MARY LYON 
 
 HER LIFE STORY 1 
 
Ob ! may I join the choir invisible 
 
 Of those immortal dead who live again 
 
 In minds made better by their presence- 
 
 Copy right, 1897, 
 
Life Story of Mary Lyon 
 
 Founder of Mount Holyoke College 
 
 Minneapolis 
 
 The Beard Art and Stationery Co* 
 1897 
 
7 
 
 HpltRY MORSE STEPHEN*. 
 
 To the young women of the present 
 day this story of Mary Lyon's lite is 
 affectionately i ascribed . 
 
 MRS. JOHN DOUGLAS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. EARLY DAYS, - 13 
 
 II. SCHOOLS IN LONDONDERRY, BUCKLAND AND IPSWICH, 22 
 
 III. NEW PLANS, 37 
 
 IV. QUALIFICATIONS FOR HER WORK, - - 46 
 V. MOUNT HOLYOKE FEMALE SEMINARY, - 51 
 
 VI. FIRST GRADUATION, 60 
 
 VII. METHODS OF GOVERNMENT, - 62 
 
 VI I F. PLANS FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN GROWTH, - 69> 
 
 IX. CO-OPERATION OF TEACHERS, - 72 
 
 X. ENDS ACCOMPLISHED, 74 
 
 XI. LAST DAYS, 78 
 
 XII. TESTIMONIALS AFTER DEATH, 84 
 
 XIII. ABIDING INFLUENCES, - 94 
 
 XIV. MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE, - 99- 
 
 865859 
 
MARY LYON HALL. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has been wisely saic^that the greatest statues 
 require least drapery. 
 
 Certainly, the men and women who have been 
 most useful require least eulogy. 
 
 The object of this sketch is to give in fewest 
 words the essence of a noble life. Miss Lyon's 
 work can be better seen, from this standpoint, in 
 the History of Time than from any former one, 
 and now, as her child, The Mount Holyoke Semi- 
 nary is rising as a Phoenix from its ashes, it seems 
 desirable that we should review it. 
 
 President Hitchcock, of Amherst College, assisted 
 by several ladies who had intimately known her, 
 prepared a memoir of Miss Lyon soon after her 
 death. 
 
 This has been widely circulated and highly 
 prized in America, in England and in some of 
 the islands of the sea. The American Tract 
 Society, in 1858, published a review of this work. 
 
Both these volumes are still in circulation, but 
 it has been thought that a brief abstract of them 
 would, in this busy day, be more extensively 
 read. 
 
 To her pupils, and to the children of her per- 
 sonal friends, this short sketch could never take 
 the place of the larger works, but, with the 
 blessing of God, it may serve to widen the 
 streams of their influence. 
 
 Dr. Hitchcock says in the closing words of his 
 preface: " Personally, I am grateful that I have 
 been called to examine and scrutinize a character 
 so worthy of imitation. Rarely, if ever, has any 
 uninspired history been so profitable to me." 
 
 Christ, of course, is the only ultimate standard 
 by which all human excellence must be measured, 
 but it is most helpful to contemplate those who 
 standing on our own level, have made their lives 
 potential. 
 
 To the Divinity that guided, rather than to the 
 instrument employed, is the honor justly due. 
 Mary Lyon, as she looks down from "the great 
 cloud of witnesses," if permitted to cheer on the 
 militant pilgrim, would say, as she always did 
 when here, "To God be all the glory." 
 
 It is believed this review will prove an incentive, 
 especially to the Young Ladies of the present day, 
 
 10 
 
many of whom have never yet heard of Mary 
 Lyon. It will show them that they "Can make 
 their lives sublime" by cultivating her principles and 
 her fidelity, even though never called ^to found a 
 Seminary. It will illuminate the truth that "the 
 entrance of God's Word giveth light" and few can 
 read without profit the story of her pilgrimage to 
 the Eternal shores. 
 
 If it should prove an inspiration to any, all 
 who know her will rejoice, and the compiler will 
 be abundantly repaid. 
 
 11 
 
LIFE STORY OF MARY LYON. 
 L 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 Among the mountains and sheltered dells of 
 New England, there have been many obscure 
 homes, where "the finest immortelles" have been 
 gathered .for the Father's House above. 
 
 On earth ,they have been seed-sowers. The four 
 winds of Heaven have scattered the seed sown, 
 and the sowers, now in the Paradise of God, are 
 bringing in the sheaves. 
 
 One of these homes, long to be remembered, was 
 in the little mountain town of Buckland, Franklin 
 County, Massachusetts. For long years, it had 
 been consecrated by the prayer, that the children, 
 and the children's children, to the latest genera- 
 tion, might be a seed to serve God. 
 
 There, Mary Lyon, of cherished memory, was 
 born, one hundred years ago! 
 
 13 
 
It is recorded of her Father that altho' a man 
 of much force, he was never known to speak an 
 angry word. " Few words but highest praise." 
 
 Her mother was a woman of vigorous mind 
 and practical pietv^ From her the germ of 
 Mary's character chiefly received the stamp which 
 decided its future growth. 
 
 Yet, as Dr. Hitchcock has well said: "It is not 
 known how many of her principles of action can 
 be directly traced to parental training, for oft- 
 times the descending stream of influence owes its 
 character to the salt which was cast into it by 
 some hand, at a point so high that it has ceased 
 to be acknowledged or even known." 
 
 It has been said "She was the child of poverty." 
 Yet her family was not oppressively poor. On 
 that rock -bound farm, industry and economy were 
 in constant demand, but theirs was the poverty of 
 the pioneer, which has been truly said to be, in 
 reality, " No poverty at all." 
 
 The wants were simple, therefore the supply was 
 ample. No idleness or luxury was there but they 
 lived in mental freedom and a broad outlook. 
 Want was made to walk so gracefully within that 
 circle of limited means, that even when left a 
 widow, with seven small children, the dear mother 
 had time to enjoy the garden of flowers, and had 
 
 14 
 
the wherewithal to aid a more restricted neighbor. 
 It was a wild, romantic farm, but nothing was left 
 to take its own way. She was busy early and 
 late, directing all the work, and cultivating the Olive 
 Plants around her table but the roses, pinks, and 
 peonies were never overlooked. 
 
 Behind their dwelling was a craggy cliff, and it 
 was their favorite pastime to climb this rocky 
 steep, and get a view of the far-off mountains, the 
 deep valleys and extended plains. 
 
 Most delightful of all was the wild- winding 
 way to the village church, nearly two miles in 
 length, but traversed every Sabbath by that orderly 
 group, the pony taking the mother on his hos- 
 pitable back. 
 
 Mary seems to have been the star of the group. 
 With warmth of heart she combined great elas- 
 ticity of spirits, and a uniform desire to do some- 
 thing for the happiness of others. To this was 
 added a keen perception of the humorous, and a 
 power of description which rendered her in a special 
 sense "theflife of the household." 
 
 In her studies she was always on the alert. One 
 of her teachers remarked : " I would like to see what 
 that girl would make if she could go to college." 
 
 But this was not the day of colleges for girls. 
 The first Woman's College was yet to be born, 
 
 15 
 
and this child was to be the honored mother. 
 She had, as might be expected, a strong religious 
 bent and even before she was a Christian herself, 
 she was known to gather her companions about 
 her, and explain to them the way of life, as her 
 parents had taught it to her. 
 
 Subsequently, on a Sabbath day, having listened 
 to a sermon on the character of God, her affec- 
 tions seemed to flow out to that Being whom 
 she had reverenced, from her earliest recollection. 
 
 This was in 1816, and in later years she al- 
 ways referred to it as the time of her conver- 
 sion, altho' in accordance with the prevailing habit 
 of the time and place, she did not then speak of 
 it, even to her mother. The next year, she en- 
 tered Sanborn Academy, at Ashfield, in her native 
 state. She was still a child of nature. One said 
 of her : * ' She is all intellect she does not seem 
 to know that she has a body to care for." 
 
 The family with whom she boarded said, that 
 she slept not more than four hours out of the 
 twenty-four. The simple habits of her childhood 
 life, had prepared her to endure this. 
 
 Her appearance was so unique, her progress 
 so remarkable, and her face so radiant, that a 
 stranger could not fail to observe her. Some of 
 her companions in study, became distinguished for 
 
 16 
 
their talents and achievements in later years; and 
 rarely has that institution held within its walls so 
 many destined to bless the world with their influ- 
 ence, but no one excelled her in recitation. 
 
 So eager was she, that the preceptor assigned her 
 extra lessons. When he gave her the Latin gram- 
 mar, he directed her to omit these, and only keep 
 up with her regular classes. Within three days, 
 she committed and recited all those portions usu- 
 ally taken at first, and her teacher (Elihu Bar- 
 rett, afterwards the noted master of many lan- 
 guages) remarked, that he never knew it more 
 accurately rendered. 
 
 She soon began to receive limited classes, all 
 the while pursuing her own studies, not neglect- 
 ing instructions for a term in drawing and paint- 
 ing, in which a well-known artist was her teach- 
 er. Regarding her penmanship as deficient, she 
 placed herself under a specialist in writing. He 
 likes to relate how, when he gave her a new- 
 book for practice, and placed a Latin motto 
 at the entrance, she gave it back to him, and 
 asked him to write it in English, as she feared 
 she might be thought wiser than she was. This is 
 mentioned only to present a prominent feature in 
 her character never to appear wiser, than she 
 was in reality. 
 
 17 
 
A notable event in her life occurred in 1821 , 
 when she entered the school of Rev. Joseph Em- 
 erson, of saintly memory. It was an opportunity 
 she had long desired, and her beaming eye and sunny 
 face spoke the gratitude of her heart. She fully real- 
 ized her expectations, and always said that she 
 owed more to Mr. Emerson than to any other 
 teacher. 
 
 He remarked, years afterward, that he had in- 
 structed many ladies whose minds had been bet- 
 ter disciplined, but in power, he considered her 
 superior to them all. 
 
 She was supremely absorbed with her books, 
 but a time of religious interest came. The Spirit of 
 God seemed in a special manner to brood over that 
 favored spot, and the thought occurred to Mary that 
 the Christian girls in the Seminary might be so en- 
 grossed with their studies as not to realize the 
 danger of those out of Christ, and thereby prove 
 a stumbling-block to them. 
 
 In writing to her mother, in whose prayers she 
 had great confidence, she begs that she would 
 pray for all the girls, that the most important 
 things might not be displaced. Moments often 
 come in the lives of individuals, as well as of na- 
 tions, which give character to their entire future. 
 
 There were at least two special seasons in Miss 
 
 18 
 
Lyon's life, in which, in view of her finished work, 
 we cannot fail to see the guiding hand of God. 
 
 They were times of great perplexity to her. 
 
 She had taught her classes successfully in the 
 view of others, but her standard was so high that 
 she was much depressed, quite contrary to her 
 nature, with the possibility of comparative fail- 
 ure, and other openings presented themselves. 
 
 For a long time she vacillated and found re- 
 lief only in tears. But God opened her eyes and 
 showed her His way. 
 
 Go where she would she could never have been 
 an ordinary woman. She must have been helpful 
 to others, but she was still like the unchiseled 
 marble. Its worth and beauty must be brought 
 forth by the hand of the artist. The Infinite 
 Artist evidently designed to do this for the profit 
 of many, and the glory of His name. 
 
 In August, 1821, she wrote to her sister : "I have 
 never realized the solemnity of living so much as I do 
 now. It is, indeed, 'greater to live than to die.' 
 
 "What consequence may often depend upon a 
 single word, or the deed which to us seems of 
 trifling significance! 
 
 "With what care should we regulate our con- 
 duct and even our thoughts! This cannot be 
 done without effort. It demands the best use of 
 
 19 
 
our powers. Yea, more, we need constant assist- 
 ance from above, the guidance of a Heavenly 
 hand." 
 
 Previously, she said: "I have cultivated the 
 intellect rather than the heart. From Mr. Em- 
 erson I have learned to give each its due pro- 
 portion." 
 
 On being asked if it was really true that she 
 committed the Latin grammar in three days, she 
 replied: "Oh, that was in one of those schools 
 where they do little else but study and recite, 
 not near as good for the cultivation of charac- 
 ter as Mr. Emerson's. I just traced the likenesses 
 and differences of the various declensions and con- 
 jugations; and, as for the rules of syntax, they 
 are so much like those in the English grammar 
 that it did not take long to master them. So, 
 you see, it "was no great feat, after all." 
 
 Then she went on to speak of Mr. Emerson's 
 school as the one where she treasured up great 
 principles of action and received a new view of 
 education. Here she met with many cultivated 
 people who were giving the first place to efforts 
 for enlisting others in the work of blessing the 
 world. 
 
 Her remarkable powers of mind, her docility, 
 her good will to all about her, and her uncloud- 
 
 20 
 
ed temper made her from the first an object of 
 special interest to her teachers and companions. 
 
 No pupil of her own, was ever more industri- 
 ous, more yielding, or more respectful. While her 
 instructors took delight in her, with gratitude, 
 spoken or unspoken, she treasured every suggestion 
 and tried to put it in immediate practice. 
 
 21 
 
IL 
 
 SCHOOLS IN LONDONDERRY, BUCKLAND AND 
 IPSWICH. 
 
 In the spring of 1823 Miss L/yon was invited 
 by Miss Z. P. Grant to assist her in a school 
 for ladies, already established in Londonderry, 
 now known as Derry, in New Hampshire. She 
 accepted the invitation, and by way of prepara- 
 tion for her duties, attended a series of lectures 
 on Chemistry, by Prof. Eaton, of Amherst Col- 
 lege, chiefly in order that she might be able to 
 illustrate that science by experiments. 
 
 The views of these ladies, Miss Grant and Miss 
 Lyon, were very congenial, and the plans they 
 adopted in Derry, were the commencement of those 
 so successfully carried out at a later day, in the 
 celebrated school at Ipswich, and afterward still 
 more perfectly at South Hadley. 
 
 An extract from a letter to her sister, who was 
 teaching, will show how careful she was in the 
 study of methods : ' ' You will do well to spare 
 no pains to obtain the confidence of every pupil, 
 and to make them see the reason of your re- 
 
 22 
 
quirements. Do not say too much to them at 
 one time. I think it best to devote the neces- 
 sary time to their behavior, even if they do not 
 study so much. If any are disposed to trouble you, 
 I think it will be helpful to speak with them out 
 of school and entirely alone. The good influence 
 of every well-behaved pupil is very great. Bring 
 this, to their attention. 
 
 "Lead them, if possible, to be strictly truthful, 
 and then let them see that you rery implicitly on 
 their word." 
 
 Both placed great confidence in the study of 
 God's Word for the development of the mind, no 
 less than the guidance of the heart and control 
 of the life. A short portion every morning, and 
 once a week a study of two hours, was "the law 
 of the house." 
 
 As the school at Derry did not cover the win- 
 ter months, Miss I/yon spent these in her moun- 
 tain home. Even here she made the most of her 
 time. The female teachers in the summer schools 
 of that vicinit}^ improved their opportunity and 
 a class of twenty-five was formed. 
 
 Eiforts were made to retain her there perma- 
 nently. Although these were not successful, the 
 seed she planted bore fruit an hundred-fold and 
 can still be gathered up. 
 
 23 
 
Of this class, she says: " Fourteen of my pupils 
 board with me. We have a table by ourselves. 
 I was well aware that it would require more 
 than average dignity, in which quality I am sad- 
 ly deficient, to prevent unprofitable conversation 
 at table, and thought it best to introduce some 
 entertaining and profitable topic. To get this 
 fairly established required more effort than I an- 
 ticipated. But I find it now really delightful. I 
 often wonder how Miss Grant could have taken 
 care of so many last summer." She adds: "My 
 spirits have been uniform for four \veeks. I do 
 not remember one hour of depression. I consider 
 this a great blessing, because depression paralyzes." 
 
 The number of pupils soon increased to fifty. 
 The special influences of the Spirit -were given, and 
 many began to live a new life. 
 
 After her return to Derry she wrote to her 
 mother: "Don't forget that I am much interest- 
 ed in little things. It does my heart good to 
 read a page filled with words of home and friends, 
 and I am deeply interested, too, in all I can learn 
 of my pupils, or rather those who were mine last 
 winter. The last days of last term were the most 
 fruitful and precious of my life. I can scarcely 
 realize them now. It is not the least of all my 
 blessings that I am permitted to do something 
 
 24 
 
for the happiness and welfare of others. I am, 
 indeed, thankful for an active life, but I hope 
 I shall not be so attached to activity, that if 
 my health were lost, all my pleasures would be 
 gone. I would so receive present favors from the 
 hand of God that should the streams be hereafter 
 cut off, the fountain would remain to be a never 
 failing source of enjoyment. I can safely and 
 cheerfully leave all the future in His hands." 
 
 Of the school in Derry she now writes: " We 
 have about ninety pupils, very attentive and studi- 
 ous, but with a great variety of character." To a 
 sister, on the Fourth of July: "Half a century 
 has passed since the Declaration of Independence. 
 Who could have anticipated such growth? Must 
 we not exclaim, ' This is the finger of God ! ' 
 Perhaps the same Almighty One, who could with 
 a glance see the course of the Israelitish nation 
 from the selling of Joseph to the coming of the 
 Messiah, has designs of mercy for all the nations of 
 the earth, through the unparalleled blessings which 
 He has bestowed upon this. Aye, it may be that 
 His dealings with our beloved land are very close- 
 ly connected with the causes which shall usher 
 in that glorious day toward which the hearts 
 of those who love Christ are eagerly looking. 
 I remember you as Paul did the Romans. ( Rom- 
 ans i: 9.)" 
 
 25 
 
In the spring of 1828 Miss Grant removed from 
 Derry to Ipswich, Mass. A large number of her 
 pupils followed her. Miss Lyon continued to assist 
 her in the summer, but still maintained her winter 
 school at Buckland. The influences of the spirit 
 were largely bestowed at both places. 
 
 She writes: " Scarcely a day passes that some 
 one is not earnestly seeking conscious communion 
 with Christ. That it is God's work, no candid ob- 
 server can doubt. ' Truly, it is the Lord's doing and 
 marvelous in our eyes.' May nothing be permitted 
 to occur which shall hinder or mar it in any 
 degree." 
 
 In 1829 the school in Buckland was reluctantly 
 relinquished because she thought she could not do 
 justice to both places. 
 
 In regard to this, she says: "It has been a 
 great trial to me, for I have never witnessed else- 
 where such improvement in character and in real 
 desire to cultivate meekness, humility, patience and 
 perseverance. A spirit of benevolence has prevailed 
 to such a degree that selfishness has taken its 
 proper place in our little community. We have 
 earnestly labored to get enlarged views in regard 
 to our country, its present state, its prospects, and 
 its needs; also, to understand what can be done, 
 and what ought to be done, and to know our own 
 
 26 
 
individual duty. Some of the most intelligent of 
 these young ladies, all of whom have been tender- 
 ly, and some of them luxuriously brought up, think 
 now that they must labor, where most needed and 
 express a willingness to go anywhere, if only the 
 Master of the vineyard will send them, and say at 
 last, 'She hath done what she could."' 
 
 The success of Mary Lyon in this school shows 
 what one competent woman can do with inade- 
 quate accommodations in a community alive to 
 the blessings of education. Commencing with 
 twenty-five she closed with one hundred. Many of 
 these had been teachers, but being herself a model 
 she taught them better methods. Though the 
 term had not then been coined, this was essential- 
 ly a "normal school." Its Christian character 
 warmly enlisted the sympathies of Christian peo- 
 ple. Daughters who went there chiefly bent upon 
 their own interests, went home determined to labor 
 for the interests of others. All knew that those 
 who were educated there thought more of mind 
 than raiment; preferred a good education to the 
 most palatable dainties, and intended to make the 
 most of themselves for the high purposes of use- 
 fulness and duty. This was a very simple and in- 
 expensive school, but the subsequent history of 
 some of those ladies, if written, would be almost 
 
 27 
 
as interesting as that of Mary Lyon herself. Verily 
 the seed she planted was "that whose fruit is in 
 itself" thus yielding an abundant harvest. 
 
 A single example may be given: S. B. was 
 under Miss Lyon's instruction at Buckland for six 
 winters. There she first sought for herself "The 
 kingdom of God and His righteousness," and was 
 deeply impressed with her personal duty and priv- 
 ilege to promote the safety and happiness of 
 others. 
 
 Who, save the pupils of Miss Lyon, could ever 
 know the impressive manner in which she could 
 say: "Oh, young ladies, do not always seek for 
 the most delightful places, and the most congenial 
 work. Go, rather, where others will not be likely 
 to go, and as they bear your body to its last rest- 
 ing place, may all who knew you be able to say, 
 'She hath done what she could.'" 
 
 Thus educated, Miss B. closed behind her the 
 pleasant chambers so cozily furnished, bade adieu 
 to all the privileges of her New England home, and 
 took up her abode in a Western territory. Miss 
 Lyon's blessing went with her, and the blessing of 
 many has since rested upon her. Making her home 
 with a married sister who, as to the good things 
 of this life, was very differently situated from their 
 parents. She opened a school in a small room of 
 
 28 
 
this small house. Fifteen came timidly in French, 
 Dutch and American. She taught them what they 
 most needed to know spending her time and en- 
 ergy upon them as though they were princes. Al- 
 most as much out of sight as moles and miners, 
 she labored earnestly to do them good. Soon 
 others came in. The place became too straight. 
 A house was built for their accommodation, and 
 the number of pupils exceeded one hundred. The 
 youngest was very young and the oldest, in win- 
 ter, were often masters and sailors of the vessels 
 that plied upon the lakes in the summer. Of 
 these she said: "They are among my most docile, 
 studious and agreeable pupils." 
 
 Every intelligent person in that part of the 
 state (for it is no longer a territory) acknowl- 
 edged her beneficent influence, and more or less 
 directly, felt the force of her character. 
 
 Mary Lyon herself could not have been more 
 unselfish, more patient or more Christly. What a 
 joy to her, as she looks down "from the battle- 
 ments of heaven" upon the scene of her earthly 
 labors to behold not one, but many such results. 
 
 These streams of influence must inevitably widen , 
 so long as earth and time endure. The perma- 
 nent impression for good the intellect unrolled in 
 her presence upon which she so distinctly inscribed : 
 
 29 
 
" Holiness unto the Lord," and the hearts of im- 
 mortal beings rightly directed this and nothing 
 less, is the imperishable work even of Miss Lyon's 
 early life. Its fruits must meet her, not only 
 when she glances from heaven to earth, but at 
 every turn of her walks in Paradise. 
 
 It may be stated here, that becoming deeply 
 impressed with the importance of a more perma- 
 nent school of high character, she now gave the 
 final negative to the question of matrimony. 
 Weighing carefully the probabilities of compara- 
 tive usefulness in wedded life she decided to re- 
 main a teacher. 
 
 The immediate occasion of this decision was a 
 very tempting offer, which she thought afforded 
 as good a prospect of love and happiness as she 
 could expect. When she had once resolved to give 
 her undivided attention to the advancement of 
 female education her decision was fixed beyond 
 recall. "If the bishop of all the churches had 
 thrown an apple of gold in her path she would 
 not have stopped to pick it up. A warm heart 
 beat in that broad chest, and once appropriated, 
 it would never have been recalled. She seemed to 
 be entirely without ambition to be known and 
 would have moved along in an even lovely course 
 like her noble mother before her. Her life would 
 
 30 
 
probably have been longer on earth, but Mount 
 Holyoke Seminary would not have been estab- 
 lished." We must see a Providence in the fact that 
 this woman did not become encumbered with do- 
 mestic cares. 
 
 At Ipswich the number of pupils continued to 
 increase until in 1831 one hundred and ninety 
 were enrolled. Not having suitable accommoda- 
 tions for so many, certain qualifications were re- 
 quired for admission, and the number of pupils 
 was finally limited to one hundred. 
 
 The failing health of Miss Grant now rendered 
 a change of climate imperative, and the school 
 was left entirely to the direction of Miss Lyon, but 
 with all her cares she still studied the problem of 
 a more permanent institution, and her mind was 
 full of the earnest purpose to do all in her power 
 to promote it. Some gentlemen and ladies in Ips- 
 wich, whose interest she had enlisted, met in her 
 parlor and selected a committee to investigate. 
 Sadly missing the counsels of Miss Grant, it was 
 her pastime to write her a long weekly letter. 
 
 At one time she wrote: "My labors the past 
 week have been unusually fatigueing. A few dif- 
 ficult cases required much personal effort. I have 
 for some time been seeking for the opportunity 
 to secure a greater degree of conscientiousness in 
 
 31 
 
the rendering of accounts. Oh! that God would 
 guide in the selection of all our methods. 
 
 "In regard to my cherished i Castle in the Air,' 
 sometimes a cloud of discouragement passes over 
 me, but it is soon gone. I still believe it will, in 
 the near future, become a reality. If I could be 
 permitted to build the portico, and clear the ground 
 for a temple that shall stand from age to age, 
 the hand-maid of education and the permanent 
 representative of the Protestant faith, it would 
 certainly be the height of my ambition. The darker 
 the outlook sometimes the brighter the faith, because 
 we rest more quietly on the arm that never fails. 
 I have often found myself attempting to preserve 
 the manna until morning, but have never suc- 
 ceeded. How wise is the economy of grace! and 
 how we should rejoice that we cannot lay up 
 stores for ourselves, either of wisdom or faith." 
 
 Again, in observing how ignorant the first dis- 
 ciples were, after being with Jesus three years: 
 "I am reminded of onr inability to determine the 
 way by which He will be glorified now. How 
 easy it would have been for Him to have made 
 them understand that He would rise from the 
 dead. But He saw it was not best for them, at 
 that time, to understand that. How little we 
 know what is best ! I can pray without reserve 
 
 32 
 
that God's will may be done on earth 'as per- 
 fectly as it is done in heaven ; ' and that the 
 events and even the circumstances that He sees 
 to be best, may take place, but when I ask for 
 particular blessings I must feel that I do not 
 know how to ask, and that it is a great priv- 
 ilege to refer the whole matter to Him. I hope 
 that many in this school may be fitted to labor 
 in the Master's vineyard. 
 
 "I am remarkably well do emphatically 'enjoy 
 health.' There is an unusual evenness in my ex- 
 perience freedom from excitement or from any 
 rising above the common level. My cup is full 
 and running over, and every future scene seems 
 all I could desire. I often say to myself: "How 
 delightful it is to work; how sweet is life.' I 
 do not now refer to religious enjoyment. Spir- 
 itually, I sometimes walk in darkness and see no 
 light but I am not left long to wander thus. 
 Christ ever stands near, to forgive even the great- 
 est sin unbelief. Yea, even 'seventy times seven, 1 
 so the record reads. Do pray that our teachers 
 may all be wholly devoted to God, and faithful 
 in His service. Pray that none of us may become 
 entangled with the things of this brief life, or fail 
 to connect temporal duties and passing pleasures 
 with the eternal future. 
 
 33 
 
"How are you now? May you ever rest un- 
 der the shadow of His wing." 
 
 A letter to one of her nieces, who had asked 
 her for counsel, will show what motives she placed 
 before them : 
 
 "I should be very much influenced in giving 
 my advice by your own views in regard to the 
 main object of life. Formerly I was very desir- 
 ous that my friends should be thoroughly edu- 
 cated, in order that they might take good posi- 
 tions in society, but now I consider that very 
 unworthy, as the main motive, in view of the 
 uncertainty of life, and the great issues that are 
 depending upon it. There is a great work to 
 be done for Christ, before he comes, and many 
 men and women are needed to accomplish it. 
 Much prejudice and indifference is to be counter- 
 acted and a great variety of wrongs are to be 
 removed. The next generation will walk in the 
 footsteps of this. Teachers of a high order are 
 eminently needed. Is it your deliberate choice to 
 go wherever He may send you, and to labor for 
 Him? If this is your decision, and you think 
 that you possess a natural aptness for teaching, 
 by all means qualify yourself. In order to exer- 
 cise much moral power over others, you must 
 have a well-cultivated mind. 
 
 34 
 
" If, as I said, your object is to labor for 
 the happiness and well being of the race, I ad- 
 vise you, by all means, to bear the expense of 
 the journey, and come to this seminary. You will 
 have no charges here except the charge given in 
 Hebrews xiii: 16. May you be guided in the path 
 of duty, which is the path of peace.'' 
 
 It may be stated here that after being educat- 
 ed by her, two of Miss Lyon's nieces devoted 
 themselves to foreign fields, and the others to mis- 
 sionary work in the home-land. 
 
 Writing to Miss Grant, she refers to a very 
 select seminary about to be opened: "I fear it 
 will be adapted exclusively to the highest classes, 
 so called. The improvement of the masses seems 
 of less importance to them. But I am glad, on 
 the whole, of their advent. They will teach the 
 Scriptures, and I hope will allow them to take the 
 lead. Then I care not how soon philosophy follows. 
 
 "I have just begun to take up in the Hall, the 
 general epistles of Peter. Oh, that I ma}' receive 
 into my own soul the glorious truths that em- 
 anate from many a radiant point. To the same 
 " Christ* field! How white it is to the harvest! 
 The precious grain is continually wasting! May 
 you and I be so directed that we shall bring in 
 the largest possible sheaves! '' 
 
 35 
 
Yesterday was my birthday; thirty -six years of 
 my life are gone. The remaining years are prob- 
 ably few. But in one thing I can always rejoice, 
 If 'the Lord hath need of me/ He can give me 
 the great privilege of long life in His service; if 
 not, I would be ready to go to Him with re- 
 joicing. Whether my days are few or many, I 
 would much prefer, if God is willing, to labor- 
 not for the highest classes (in worldly phrase so 
 called) but for the great middle class. This 
 contains the main wheels which are to move the 
 world. The founding of a permanent Ladies' 
 Seminary is a great enterprise. Whatever share I 
 have in it must be a humble and laborious one. 
 How I can get a footing firm enough for my feet 
 to rest upon while I am freely working, I do not 
 yet know, but, perhaps, God will open the way. 
 He may only permit me to awaken an interest in 
 the cause, appointing that the temple should be 
 built by other hands." 
 
 36 
 
III. 
 
 NEW PLANS. 
 
 While Miss Lyon thus wrote, she scarcely knew 
 her own heart. Mentally, she was planning for 
 more definite work. Only a few days later she 
 wrote to Miss Grant: 
 
 "If only a few judicious gentlemen could be pur- 
 suaded to join us, might we not begin on a small 
 scale?" 
 
 Meantime it is said that the committee of gen- 
 tlemen that had been enlisted, discouraged by the 
 apathy they met had actually disbanded. 
 
 With Miss Grant's concurrence she prepared and 
 circulated the following letter : 
 
 To the Friends and Patrons of Ipswich Female 
 Seminary: 
 
 "It has long been a subject of regret to those 
 familiar with the character of this institution that 
 many very promising young ladies are denied the 
 benefit of its privileges on account of limited 
 means. 
 
 37 
 
"The question has been asked: Is there no 
 way by which the expenses could be so reduced 
 as to include these. If not here, could not an- 
 other institution elsewhere be founded on the fol- 
 lowing plan: 
 
 ''First. Buildings to be erected and furnished 
 by voluntary gifts and placed free from encum- 
 brance in the hands of trustees. 
 
 "Second. Best qualified teachers to be secured 
 who, possessing a 'philanthropic spirit,' would 
 cheerfully labor, with less compensation than they 
 would elsewhere receive. 
 
 "Third. Style of living, plain, but good, simple 
 and hygienic. 
 
 "Fourth, Domestic work, very systematically 
 arranged, mostly performed by the young ladies 
 under the direction of a superintending matron. 
 
 "Fifth. No surplus income to revert to the 
 teachers, but all to be cast into the treasury for 
 the purpose of still further reduction in pupils' 
 expenses the following year. This, of course, would 
 not meet the case of such as were entirely des- 
 titute but it would reach a large and interest- 
 ing class of enterprising young women, and great- 
 ly elevate the standard of female education. 
 
 Every department of society would be benefited 
 by this uplift. The enterprise should be present- 
 
 38 
 
ed with broad and liberal views for neither local 
 or exclusively denominational benefit equally 
 claiming the patronage of every part of New 
 England. 
 
 "To effect this, no special privileges should be 
 granted to the students of the place where this 
 Seminary might be located. All such should be 
 received as boarders, subject to the same regula- 
 tions as those from abroad. 
 
 "The spot selected should be the one consid- 
 ered most favorable to permanent growth, suited 
 to nourish the tender plant, and to support the 
 lofty oak." 
 
 To Thos. White, Esq., of Ashland, Mass., who 
 had been her special friend and adviser, she for- 
 warded a number of these circulars, for distribu- 
 tion among the gentlemen and ladies of his ac- 
 quaintance, accompanying them with the follow- 
 ing letter: 
 
 "IPSWICH, March 5th, 1834. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 "I have long cherished a great desire that the 
 advantages of this Seminary should be brought 
 within the range of those without ample means, 
 and that in some way the expenses should be re- 
 duced to a level with their ability. I do wish 
 that our wealthy farmers would take this sub- 
 
 39 
 
ject into consideration. If they would take hold 
 of it vigorously, perhaps something could be done 
 which would essentially promote the interests of 
 their posterity. 
 
 "While it is desirable that every benevolent 
 man and woman should be able to grasp all the 
 benevolent enterprises of the day, and do some- 
 thing for each, I am persuaded that the interests 
 of the whole are best promoted by the attention of 
 each being especially directed to some single enter- 
 prise. I am wishing that some of our fathers 
 would select this as the special child of their 
 prayers and their gifts. 
 
 " Would you not, dear sir, be glad in your old 
 age to enlist some kindred souls in this great 
 work which, in importance to the future welfare 
 of our country and of the world, might not fall 
 behind any of our leading benevolences? Would 
 it not rejoice your heart if you could see this 
 movement spread as our home and foreign mis- 
 sionary operations have done? I do believe it 
 might be so, and that he who first putting his ' hand 
 to the plough ' shall say to others, * Come, thou, 
 and do thou likewise,' will deserve the gratitude 
 of his country. I will gladly do all I can, and 
 I know of other ladies who are ready to em 
 bark in the enterprise. 
 
 40 
 
"In six months I intend to close my labors 
 here, that I may devote myself wholly to this 
 work." 
 
 She also wrote to Professor Hitchcock, of Am- 
 herst College: 
 
 "Reverend and Dear Sir: 
 
 "Knowing that you are interested in my pro- 
 posed plan, for a permanent Seminary for Ladies, 
 I offer no apology for this communication. 
 
 u The friends of the cause are more and more 
 convinced that this is essential to the prosperity of 
 higher education. What school of this kind is now 
 in existence one which seems likely to outlive its 
 present teachers? Would not a few such (perhaps 
 one or two in every state), where young women 
 of enterprise could reasonably gather, to receive 
 instruction and mature their plans, exert a po- 
 tent influence for good? 
 
 " Personally, I will do what I can ; but noth- 
 ing can be successfully accomplished without the 
 aid of a few benevolent gentlemen, whose time 
 and talents are much in demand, and whose hands 
 are already full of important interests. 
 
 "None others could arouse any enthusiasm on 
 this hitherto neglected subject. 
 
 "I must now beg that you will consider this 
 
 41 
 
(not in the light of personal friendship, feeling 
 tinder a kind of obligation to treat it with re- 
 spect), but as a philanthropic scheme, and if it 
 commends itself to you, lend us a helping hand. 
 
 "Some of us have been quietly discussing this 
 subject for several months. It seems to be the 
 prevailing idea that Ipswich is the right location, 
 but some would prefer to inquire about other 
 places. I regard this as a matter of vital im- 
 portance, and believing that we should find con- 
 genial soil, I am very desirous that localities in 
 the Connecticut Valley should receive special at- 
 tention. I would like to test the sentiment in 
 your vicinity. 
 
 "If the prospect of our plan is auspicious we 
 will obtain from the Legislature an act of incor- 
 poration. 
 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 "MARY LYON." 
 
 About this time she wrote to Miss Grant: 
 "Is it not true that oft-times it is the Chris- 
 tian's duty to labor without financial reward; 
 and have not multitudes always been raised up, 
 who have gladly turned a deaf ear to all money 
 considerations, so long as the necessity continued? 
 I think Paul acted on this principle. 
 
 "Is it not of first importance that not only 
 
 42 
 
teachers but mothers should be wisely trained to 
 be the educators of the race? To effect this we 
 must have the best advantages at moderate ex- 
 pense. 
 
 "It will be necessary that those who first en- 
 ter this field should receive very little pecuniary 
 compensation, thus commending the cause to those 
 whose hearts are not much enlarged by Chris- 
 tian philanthropy. How many years must elapse 
 before this would no longer be needful, time and 
 experience alone can decide. 
 
 To Miss Hannah White: 
 
 "I suppose you have heard that I am endeav- 
 oring to establish a manual labor school for young 
 ladies. I have heard this. But it is not true, and 
 I wish the mistake could be corrected. I will tell 
 you what I would like to do. You know it has 
 become very popular for our highest and best 
 seminaries for young men to be moderate in their 
 expenses. It is not considered a great recommen- 
 dation for a college to be very expensive. But 
 how different it is in regard to ladies 1 schools. 
 Even in this Nineteenth century many value these 
 according to the money invested. Is it not rather 
 gratifying to young ladies to attend expensive 
 schools while, perhaps, their brothers would rather 
 glory in pursuing their studies at a moderate outlay? 
 
 43 
 
"There is a general opinion that female edu- 
 cation must be costly, and that those who can- 
 not pay the price must do without it. I wish 
 the same public interest could be roused in ex- 
 tending superior educational advantages to wom- 
 en as already exists for young men. Their col- 
 leges are established by philanthropic people and 
 liberally endowed. Why should it not be so in 
 regard to colleges for women? I believe it will 
 be, at some future time. But it cannot be accom- 
 plished, unless means are used to secure the inter- 
 est of the common people. 
 
 "It has seemed to me desirable that the pio- 
 neer in this line should present some marked feat- 
 ures which should attract attention, and I have 
 thought that with the aid of modern invention and 
 perfect system the ordinary domestic work could 
 be performed by the young ladies, not as an es- 
 sential feature of the institution, but as a mere 
 appendage. This ought by no means to give the 
 name of manual labor to the scheme. After the 
 acquaintance I have had with many cultivated 
 families, where the daughters in a systematic 
 manner efficiently perform domestic duties, I have 
 the greatest confidence that a system might be 
 established by which the work of a hundred young 
 ladies, with a competent superintending matron, 
 
 44 
 
could be performed in the same perfect manner 
 without any sacrifice of study or refinement. 
 
 4 'Would not this feature do away with much of 
 the prejudice against the higher education of woman 
 and thus prove a great advantage to the cause?" 
 
 To her sister she writes : 
 
 "I am about to embark in a frail boat upon 
 a boisterous sea. I know not whither I shall be 
 driven, how I shall be tossed, or in what port I 
 shall arrive. Nor do I know when I shall take 
 up the regular work of my chosen profession again . 
 
 "But I am not anxious. I never saw any work 
 before me which seemed so directly the work of 
 the Lord as this. It is very delightful, in the 
 midst of darkness and doubt, to commit the whole 
 to His guidance. 
 
 "I wish to spend the next winter partly in 
 study and partly in planning for the future. I de- 
 sire to be in a cultivated family where I shall 
 have access to a good library, in a locality where 
 I shall not be too retired, for I shall have fre- 
 quent need of counsel. Providence has kindly giv- 
 en me such a home in the family of Professor 
 Hitchcock." 
 
 45 
 
IV. 
 
 QUALIFICATIONS FOR HER WORK. 
 
 Let us survey, at this point, the superior qual- 
 ifications of Miss Lyon for the work to which she 
 is now sacredly devoted. 
 
 She is thirty -seven years of age, health, remark- 
 ably good; power of endurance, very great; faith, 
 courage and enthusiasm, unbounded ; her strong 
 common-sense undiluted by sentimental weakness, 
 her knowledge of a teacher's duties liberal and 
 definite. She had been so successful as a teacher 
 that her name was sufficient to draw around 
 her women of fine minds, high moral tone and 
 good home training. Discerning people who knew 
 her well were convinced that her consecration to 
 the object before her, her energy and persever- 
 ance, would ensure the success of her plan, and 
 she had a distinct conception of the seminary she 
 wished to found. The pattern had been shown 
 her "in the mount" by Him who orders all 
 things after the counsel of his own will, and guides 
 the very thoughts of those who put all their 
 
 46 
 
confidence in Him. To the embodying of her vis- 
 ion she had conscientiously devoted the residue of 
 her life. She accepted it as the work appoint- 
 ed her by "the Heavenly Father," without one 
 misgiving as to the final result. With a proper- 
 ty of less than two thousand dollars, and with 
 powers and attainments which would have se- 
 cured an ample salary, she turned from every 
 service that would have insured pecuniary reward, 
 and, at her own charges, undertook a long and 
 painful warfare to found an institution from which 
 she inflexibly resolved to receive only a home and 
 two hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Not a man of much wealth had . at this time 
 given her his countenance or aid. Few were in- 
 terested in her project, and the public were in 
 quiet ignorance of her plans. Yet, she was not 
 wholly alone. A few intelligent gentlemen and 
 ladies, who had known her, thoroughly relying 
 on her competence, energy and benevolence, gave 
 her an encouraging word, and in her pupils she 
 always had the most enthusiastic friends. 
 
 She had learned the infinite superiority of the 
 possessions which the soul can take across the 
 River of Death, and her indifference to the things 
 that perish in the using were a part of her out- 
 fit for her mission. She never made war on the 
 
 47 
 
distinctions of society, but thought the church and 
 school should not be cumbered with them, and 
 was continually indifferent to what is often called 
 gentility. " My heart is sick," she said, "of empty 
 gentility." 
 
 In her early and most susceptible years her 
 godly mother had turned her attention to that 
 adorning "which is incorruptible and fadeth not 
 away" and to "the ornament which in the sight 
 of God is of great price." She had, as a natural 
 consequence, possessed, from her childhood, the or- 
 nament of a guileless, humble and intensely benevo- 
 lent spirit. It seemed to her of less consequence that 
 her earthly robes conformed to her station. These 
 points in her character, whether they were the re- 
 sult of constitutional bias, of education or of grace, 
 fitted her for the burdens she was assuming. They 
 helped her to make herself of "no reputation," and 
 to do anything that was right to procure the 
 timber and the stone, the gold and the silver, nec- 
 essary to the temple which she desired to build 
 for the Lord. But the best of all her qualifica- 
 tions was the power and skill she had in pre- 
 senting Gospel Truth. 
 
 Those who had known her in Ipswich where, 
 during the repeated absence of Miss Grant, she 
 had stood at the head of the school, often spoke 
 
 48 
 
of the half hour in the morning devoted to Scrip- 
 tural truth. She taught no abstract system of 
 theology and never spoke of sects, but dwelt up- 
 on fundamental truths, presenting them, one by 
 one, in different lights and illustrating in various 
 ways. How many have heard her thus dwell up- 
 on the Truth, " Whatsoever a man soweth that 
 shall he also reap." The vivid sense she had of 
 what she believed was the secret of her power. 
 When she spoke of common things the sincerity 
 and energy of her manner always commanded at- 
 tention, but there was something more than this 
 when she dealt out heavenly wisdom. Her sub- 
 dued tones, as she spoke of eternal realities, with- 
 out a gesture save of her moving lips, conveyed 
 as much sense of reality as if she had been to 
 Westminster Abbey and was describing its mon- 
 uments and treasures. 
 
 It was noticeable that she never begged and 
 besought her pupils to serve God, seeming to think 
 this degraded religion by representing it as beg- 
 ging for votaries. Sometimes she would seem to 
 lift the curtain and give her listeners a glimpse 
 into "The Holy of Holies," and then she would 
 say, "But there will be no vacant seat there. If 
 any one chooses to break away from the vows 
 her parents have made for her if she chooses to 
 
 49 
 
separate herself from Christian people, her absence 
 will not sadden that happy throng. Heaven will 
 be full and happy without her." But she set life 
 and death before them. In the name of Christ 
 she offered them salvation as a free and loving 
 gift. How she would describe the possibilities of the 
 soul its ever growing susceptibility to joy or woe 
 its identity and immortality, as if she had been 
 through the spirit world! It was not the words, 
 nor the manner, nor even the thought, but it was 
 the whole effect which was so remarkable. It 
 was the conception which her hearers formed of 
 the truth which she exhibited. 
 
 Such conceptions cannot be described but they 
 will outlive death and the grave. They were none 
 the less real, because they cannot be detailed. 
 They were like seeds which germinate and grow. 
 Is it strange that these and similar instruc- 
 tions from kindred minds were richly attended 
 by the special influences of the spirit? All who 
 loved to see the young choosing the path that 
 leads to eternal happiness, were glad to hear of 
 a plan for perpetuating these influences. Thus, 
 while many good people hesitated, and some op- 
 posed, there were more who welcomed her mis- 
 sion with faith and hope. 
 
 50 
 
V. 
 
 MOUNT HOLYOKE FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 About a dozen gentlemen of known benevolence 
 and wisdom, met in Miss Lyon's private parlor 
 September 6th, 1834, and appointed a committee 
 to make a commencement, appoint trustees, etc. 
 This committee stood before the public as the re- 
 sponsible agents for establishing the proposed Sem- 
 inary until a charter should be obtained, and trus- 
 tees appointed. 
 
 Miss Lyon raised $1,000 by personal solicita- 
 tion, among the ladies of her acquaintance in 
 Ipswich, for the contingent expenses of her enter- 
 prise, and every dollar of that she invested so 
 that it brought her in a hundred per cent. This 
 was, as she always said, "the cornerstone of 
 her edifice." It was her constant petition that 
 God would open the hearts of His children in 
 her behalf, and she believed she had some nota- 
 ble answers to her prayer. One such instance 
 may be given: 
 
 A gentleman in Boston, whom the Lord had 
 
 51 
 
blessed with competence, decided that all the in- 
 crease of his property, over and above what was 
 needed for the support of his family, should not 
 only be the Lord's, but should be spent, year by 
 year, in his service. He became much interested 
 in Miss Lyon's plans, and his spacious mansion 
 was opened to her. The time, influence and sym- 
 pathy which he and his lovely wife gave to her 
 work, were even more valuable than the thous- 
 ands of gold and silver which they gave. 
 
 The question of location, after much discussion, 
 was settled in 1835 in favor of South Hadley, 
 amid the most beautiful scenery in the state, and 
 it was named "Mount Holyoke Female Semin- 
 ary." 
 
 Now she says: "I have been thinking, whether 
 the buildings might not be commenced this season, 
 laying out ten or twelve thousand dollars, on a 
 plan which can be extended as soon as more 
 funds are obtained." 
 
 To her mother: "I meet, of course, with many 
 things to discourage me, but I have no doubt I 
 am following the leadings of Providence. It seems 
 to me more and more that the proposed institu- 
 tion, and other similar ones, are a necessary part 
 of the great system of means, now in operation, 
 to hasten the coming of Christ's kingdom. Per- 
 
 52 
 
haps the efforts I am now making will do more 
 for the cause of Christ, after I am laid in the 
 grave than all I have done in my life before. It 
 is my heart's desire that ' Holiness to the Lord ' 
 may be inscribed upon all connected with it, and 
 that a succession of teachers may be raised up 
 who shall spend their time and talents in sus- 
 taining this Seminary, until the Master comes." 
 
 The act of incorporation passed both Houses 
 of the State Legislature February 10th, 1836, 
 and was signed by the Governor the next day. 
 
 This empowered the trustees to hold real and 
 personal estate, not exceeding in value one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, to be devoted to the es- 
 tablishment of a permanent Seminary of high order 
 for the benefit of young ladies. The next October 
 witnessed the public laying of the cornerstone. 
 
 Miss Lyon wrote: "I believe this will prove 
 a new era in education. A building accommo- 
 dating about eighty pupils will at once be erect- 
 ed, and additions will be made as the liberality 
 of the Christian public shall justify. I am sure 
 the work will not stop with this institution. Now 
 we must make our arrangements for furnishing, 
 and for the means to do this, we must depend 
 chiefly upon ladies. I have no doubt the call will 
 be promptly met." 
 
 53 
 
In this she was not disappointed. Groups of 
 ladies, in many different places, became responsi- 
 ble for the furnishing of one or more rooms. She 
 pleaded for promptness in this work, for she said, 
 "Our country is in immediate need of well furn- 
 ished and self-denying teachers. The calls that 
 come to New England are multiplying every year, 
 and the Seminary at Ipswich (after which this 
 is to be modeled), is compelled to return a 
 negative reply to many such applications. The 
 necessities of our country are but just beginning 
 to be realized." 
 
 The time for the opening of the school arriv- 
 ed, and more than eighty young ladies were on 
 the spot. Some unexpected delays had occurred, 
 and the rooms were by no means ready. 
 
 But these were not inexperienced girls. Some 
 of them were at least twenty years of age, and 
 had a knowledge of affairs which books can never 
 give, and which, in the exigencies of life, is to 
 book knowledge what gold and silver are to the 
 paper currency which represents them. Miss Lyon 
 received every new comer with the welcome of a 
 mother to a daughter. The light of her eye, and 
 the benevolent tones of her voice, went directly to 
 the heart of the stranger. Each one was imme- 
 diately enlisted in making things ready as soon 
 
 54 
 
as possible. Never were gathered in one place 
 more willing hearts or more nimble feet. By ex- 
 ample, precept and practice they learned the best 
 of lessons, to " endure hardness as good soldiers 
 of the cross." Many of them came with supplies 
 of bedding, etc., from their respective towns, so 
 that when evening drew near, all were comfort- 
 ably domiciled. Her Father's hand, seen in each 
 extremity, sweetened every gift and gave zest to 
 every joy. She had long been of those who " observ- 
 ing providences have providences to observe." How 
 often, with seraphic smile, did she say: "Whoso is 
 wise, and will observe these things, even he shall 
 understand the loving kindness of the Lord." 
 
 Let the embarrassment be what it might, Miss 
 Lyon was never known to "worry," but in pa- 
 tience she uniformly possessed her soul. Like 
 Joshua, she "was strong and of good courage." 
 
 That feature of her scheme which consisted in 
 having the domestic work performed by the young 
 ladies, was a difficult one to arrange; but she 
 firmly believed that it might be so planned that 
 one hour a day would be sufficient to accom- 
 plish it. This, she said, would promote health 
 and instead of proving a hindrance to study 
 would be a valuable means of mental as well as 
 physical culture. As she studied the subject she 
 
 55 
 
became so thoroughly convinced of its utility in 
 this respect, that the argument of the mere sav- 
 ing of expense sank, in her view, into compara- 
 tive insignificance. 
 
 In a circular, published just before the opening 
 of the school, she says: "We think this will pro- 
 mote the health, the usefulness and the happiness 
 of our pupils; their health, by furnishing a little 
 daily exercise of the best kind; their usefulness, by 
 tending to preserve their interest in domestic af- 
 fairs, and their happiness by being relieved from 
 great dependence upon others. The adoption of a 
 feature like this, in an institution which aims to 
 be better endowed than any existing Seminary in 
 the country for the benefit of ladies, must give it 
 an attitude of noble independence which will ex- 
 ert an elevating influence on its members." 
 
 To her friends, she used playfully to say: "This 
 peculiarity will prove a sieve which will exclude 
 the indolent, the fastidious and the weakly, of 
 whom you can never make much," and leave "the 
 finest of the wheat, the energetic, the benevolent 
 and those whose early training has been favorable 
 to usefulness, from whom you may reasonably ex- 
 pect great things." 
 
 Now the time had arrived to test her theory. 
 There were many predictions of failure. Fully 
 
 56 
 
determined to refute all objections, and to sat- 
 isfy all donors, she gave her chief attention, at 
 first, to the domestic department. Although she 
 had never been proficient in household work, she 
 had the tact of Queen Elizabeth, in discovering 
 what everybody was capable of doing, and the 
 skill of a Napoleon, in finding her generals and 
 putting them in the right place. But, then, it 
 would happen that the best person to superin- 
 tend the dinner-circle belonged to a geometry class 
 that recited at 11 o'clock! What was to be done? 
 It was easier to alter the time of a recitation, 
 than to find a competent person to take the 
 scholar's place upon the dinner-circle. But, when 
 the recitation hour was changed, someone else 
 might be incommoded and another change must be 
 made. Never had Miss Lyon more scope for her 
 inventive powers. But her resources seemed in- 
 exhaustible. When, for the twentieth time, the 
 literary and domestic departments interferred she 
 set herself again to readjust her time-table with 
 as much cheerfulness, as she had in constructing 
 it at first. 
 
 During the early winter, her powers of body 
 and mind were on the alert from sixteen to 
 eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. From 
 basement to attic, she was in constant demand. 
 
 57 
 
As with Joseph, so with her: " Whatsoever was 
 done in the house, she was the doer of it." It 
 is no small thing for a matron, with well-trained 
 and ready servants, to put and keep everything 
 in order in so large a house, but it is far more 
 to lead eighty scholarly girls to do it. But all had 
 been consecrated to Christ and was regarded by 
 her, as His. Whatever was necessary to the health 
 and comfort of her numerous family, was as vi- 
 tally connected with His cause, in her view, as 
 the most direct labors for the salvation of souls. 
 Many a winter morning, while it was yet dark 
 and cold, she has left her comfortable room to 
 watch the rising of the bread, with an eye as 
 single to the glory of God as though she had 
 risen to pray. A noble band was that, which 
 gathered in those halls that first year; young 
 maidens of lofty aims, noble impulses and steady 
 devotion to Christ. The Lord magnified their 
 leader in their sight, and helped them to see with 
 her eyes the importance of her plans, and to enter 
 into the work with a zeal scarcely second to her 
 own. How they did delight to rally round such a 
 leader ! Imbibing her spirit, their ambition was not 
 so much to gather the greatest possible amount 
 from books, as to vie with each other in the noble 
 strife of sacrifice for the good of the institution. 
 
 58 
 
As Paul was no less an apostle, when stitch- 
 ing the canvas for a tent, than when writing 
 his Epistles, so they, instructed by their Heaven- 
 taught guide, felt themselves no less the children 
 of a Heavenly King, when employed at their do- 
 mestic work, than when worshiping in His courts. 
 "The love of Christ constrained them" in the one 
 case as in the other. Scattered through this and 
 other lands they have, almost without exception, 
 been real workers, serving their day and gener- 
 ation, often with little compensation, save the 
 blessed consciousness of sharing in Christ's work. 
 "Most of these have already reached the goal and 
 received their crown. But here or there, they are 
 sisters all, bound to one another, to their sainted 
 teacher, and to their common Lord by ties in- 
 visible, but as indissoluble, as that which bind 
 the satellites to their planets and the planets to 
 their centre." 
 
 59 
 
VL 
 
 FIRST GRADUATION. 
 
 Nearly all the pupils of the first year were 
 Christian girls, and the senior class were advanced 
 students, when they entered. The first graduation 
 occurred in the latter part of August, 1837. 
 
 Thursday morning rose clear and bright. Ex- 
 aminations had all been passed and were well 
 sustained. Miss Lyon, with womanly modesty, 
 shrank from leading her band of maidens to the 
 church, and, so far as propriety would allow, in- 
 sisted that the address should be given and the 
 diplomas presented in the Seminary Hall. But, how- 
 ever, she submitted this matter to the trustees. 
 They decided in favor of the church, and under 
 their escort, the orator of the day (Dr. Hawes, of 
 Hartford), the teachers, the senior class and the 
 school, walked with heads uncovered, to the village 
 church. The side pews and galleries were already 
 crowded with interested spectators, when Miss 
 Lyon led her beautiful troupe, in quiet dignity, 
 to the seats reserved for them. 
 
 It was an hour in her life never to be forgotten. 
 
The battle had been fought! The victory won! 
 Public opinion was in a good degree favorable 
 to her cause. Wonder, gratitude and praise fill- 
 ed her heart with a flood of emotions, such as 
 ordinary minds can faintly conceive. Her great 
 soul was surcharged with pent-up joy. Smiles 
 and tears strove for the mastery on her radiant 
 face. Everything was done to her mind. Dr. 
 Hawes' address was practical and judicious. Her 
 beloved pastor and friend, Rev. Joseph D. Con- 
 dit, secretary of the Board of Trustees, presented 
 the diplomas to the three eldest born daughters of 
 the Seminary. Henceforth this trio were to be her 
 fellow-laborers in the work of education. He who 
 made the address, and he who presented the di- 
 plomas she who signed them and those who re- 
 ceived them, now mingle their praises before "the 
 great white throne," but the guiding cloud which 
 had hovered over the house, rests permanently 
 within its walls. 
 
 Welcome to her, was the Shechinah of the Lord. 
 Henceforth this building was to be her home. 
 Its inmates were to be her children, entrusted to 
 her by their Heavenly Father, to be brought up 
 for Him. Like a true Christian mother, she knew 
 no joy comparable to that of seeing her pupils 
 "walking in the Truth." 
 
 61 
 
VIL 
 
 METHODS OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Her mode of government was peculiar. For 
 every principle, she had a scriptural precept or 
 model. When requesting her pupils not to visit 
 each other on the Sabbath, she would say: "It 
 is not in my power to make you keep the day 
 holy in your hearts, but it is our duty to make 
 your circumstances favorable to this;" and then 
 would remind them of the fourth commandment. 
 
 Violations of physiological laws, such as thin 
 shoes or tight waists, were shown to be vio- 
 lations of the sixth command, and injuring or 
 not returning borrowed articles, with all care- 
 less use of common property, were shown to 
 be forbidden by the eighth. Did she desire to 
 warn against the treachery of a frivolous educa- 
 tion, in which the fingers and the feet were chief- 
 ly educated, the daughter of Herodias was ex- 
 actly in point. " This young lady," she would 
 say, "who could move with so much grace and 
 beauty, as to delight the king and his court, could 
 
 62 
 
bear to her mother, in her own delicate hands, 
 the head of John the Baptist. Thus many a 
 young lady appears in the parlor, with angelic 
 sweetness in her face and tones, the admired of 
 all admirers, when she has a moment before, pierced 
 the heart of her mother, with cutting words, or 
 roused the temper of a weary maid by harsh 
 and needless fault-finding." 
 
 In so large an establishment many rules were 
 necessary to order and comfort. It was her 
 custom to show that all these were but an off- 
 shoot of the first or second great commandment. 
 Family devotion, public worship and private 
 prayer were the natural details of the first. " Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" 
 and putting everything in its place, promptness 
 at meals, faithfulness in domestic duties, were but 
 the details of the second, "Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself." She was accustomed so to 
 set forth this view, that the heart of that great 
 school would cheerfully respond. Everything, she 
 told us, was to be done, not to the teachers, 
 but to the Lord, and then the most uninterest- 
 ing household duty would become a sacred priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 Most of the young ladies, after observing the 
 rules for a few weeks, saw and felt that they were 
 
 63 
 
adopted and enforced for their happiness. The 
 moral effect on susceptible minds, of bringing con- 
 science to bear so universally and equally on daily 
 life, was very great. If they violated a rule of the 
 school, they saw that they violated the great law 
 of love. This made it easy for them to do right. 
 It made them vigilant without conscious effort. 
 
 Miss Lyon kept all the rules of the school her- 
 self. The language of her lips, and of her life, was 
 this: "We will all do right together. It is easier 
 to conform to a law ourselves than to oblige 
 others to conform to it. We hope you will not 
 put upon us this painful necessity. We trust each 
 of you will do right of choice but if any should 
 refuse, we must not forget the case of Eli. He 
 expostulated with his sons, but did not oblige them 
 to mend their ways. How dreadful was the end 
 of the sons, and how awful God's frown upon Eli! 
 
 It was more as a family, than as a school, that 
 Miss Lyon governed her pupils. "Family govern- 
 ment," she held, "should be mild, undeviating, in- 
 flexible, so that, on the part of the parent, nothing 
 should be needful but advice; on the part of the 
 child, nothing but respectful obedience." To this 
 point, year after year, she brought her large family. 
 Occasionally a group of otherwise respectable stu- 
 dents would lean the wrong way. While they 
 
 64 
 
would keep the letter of the law, their spirits would 
 be sadly out of tune. In such cases, if a few general 
 remarks did not remedy the evil, she would take 
 them, each one alone, to her room, and set before 
 them the wrong they were doing to themselves 
 and to the beloved institution. 
 
 Seldom did she fail to find access, in this way, 
 to the hearts of the most perverse. Having seen 
 her tender regard for them, they often became her 
 closest friends, and were the last to suffer a word 
 against her to be uttered in their presence. In 
 many cases they would say: "Trust me, Miss 
 Ly on, I will never give you any more trouble." 
 But a very few would yield to no remonstrances. 
 When it became necessary, she could use the ampu- 
 tating knife; but it has been said that she could 
 expel a pupil in as good humor as she received one. 
 
 "I am sorry for you," she would say, "but the 
 good of this beloved school requires it. God in his 
 government ever consults the good of the whole/ > 
 Napoleon, they say, always took it for granted 
 that everybody was selfish. Miss Lyon took it 
 for granted that everyone with whom she had to 
 do, was benevolent. Her own soul was so imbued 
 with love, that she unconsciously attributed it to 
 others, until she had proved it to be otherwise. 
 This assumption seemed to infuse the quality. 
 
 65 
 
When any special work was to be done, for the 
 good of the family, she would not ask, "Is any one 
 willing? " but " How many would like to do this ? " 
 When urging a pupil to some self-denying act, like 
 taking an uncongenial or indolent room-mate, it 
 was an understood principle, in all her reasonings, 
 that the young lady addressed had a tender regard 
 for the well-being and personal comfort of the girl 
 in question. 
 
 "If we put two unfortunate children together, " 
 she would say, "they will surely injure one another, 
 Somebody must take pity on them. Who can do 
 it better than you? Some self-denial, no doubt, 
 but, then, we cannot do much without self-denial. 
 I made up my mind on that point many years 
 ago." She would talk in this strain, until the 
 young lady who had been determined not to room 
 with the girl, would go away counting it a privi- 
 lege. If she were introducing the habit of early 
 rising, she would say: "People who run around 
 all day to overtake half an hour that they lost in 
 the morning, never accomplish much. You may 
 always know them by the rip in the glove, a string 
 pinned to the bonnet, or a shawl on the bannister 
 which they had no time to put away. But it is a 
 fruitless race. Lost time can never be recovered. 
 You have come here to make the most of your 
 
 66 
 
time. You can never do this without system, and 
 you cannot secure this without a regular hour for 
 rising. Decide upon some hour. If your hour is 
 five, you should be on your feet before the clock 
 has done striking. Otherwise, you are tardy, and 
 you lose some self-respect in consequence. Don't 
 set the time too early. It would be better for you 
 to decide to rise at six, when you might rise at 
 five, than to fail of meeting your own appointment. 
 Early rising for each individual is rising at the 
 earliest time proper for her, under existing circum- 
 stances. The hour should not be selected in the 
 delicious dreaminess of the half-waking, but when 
 you ?*re up and awake, with all your powers in 
 vigorous exercise. It is better for those who re- 
 quire more sleep than others, to take it in the 
 early part of the night." 
 
 When she thought they were prepared to make 
 a wise decision, she asked them to rise, and be 
 seated again as soon as they had chosen their 
 rising hour for the next week. In the freshness of 
 morning, with minds unclouded by over-study or 
 unhealthy excitement, they usually decided on a 
 much earlier hour than she would have selected 
 for them. But the irresolute and indolent were 
 unable to decide. With such, and with any who 
 were unamiable and inclined to *' stand it out," 
 
 67 
 
she was patient, and willing to stand as long as 
 they did. When all had signified that their decis- 
 ion was made, they were instructed to write it 
 down and hand it to her. One of the first inquir- 
 ies on the succeeding day would be: "How did 
 you succeed, young ladies, about rising at the 
 hour you set?" A large majority would be found 
 to have kept their resolutions, and the delinquents 
 could complain of no one but themselves. Having 
 broken their own rules, and fallen short of their 
 own standard, they could not but feel self-con- 
 demned. It is a fact, abundtantly illustrated, that 
 character so moulded grows astonishingly in grace 
 and excellence. 
 
 68 
 
VIIL 
 
 PLANS FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN GROWTH. 
 
 It was an essential part of Miss Lyon's purpose 
 to situate her pupils favorably for growth in grace, 
 if they desired it. Even in the erection of the orig- 
 inal building, she made such arrangements, that 
 each one could be alone, and entirely free from 
 intrusion half an hour in the morning and the 
 same time before retiring. They were quite free 
 to spend it as they chose, and in making their 
 reports were never asked how they had used it, 
 but simply whether they had been undisturbed and 
 guiltless of disturbing others. In her morning in- 
 struction in the hall, she spoke of the precept of 
 the Saviour: " Enter into thy closet," and made 
 suggestions as to the best manner of improving 
 the time. No illustration can do justice to her 
 teachings, but they were much in the following 
 strain: "Read a small portion of God's Word and 
 ask for His spirit to help you to get all his mean- 
 ing. Don't think you must read a certain number 
 of verses. Cultivate a receptive attitude, and read 
 
till you come to something that especially attracts 
 you. I think it is better to read in course. You 
 will be more likely to read regularly. It is surpris- 
 ing how those, who are led by the spirit of God, 
 find in a regular course of reading, just the instruc- 
 tion they especially need." 
 
 Again, she would say, "Before you kneel, consider 
 just what you most need, and use any words that 
 come most naturally, spreading everything before 
 Him. Remember your mercies. Render thanks for 
 His goodness, and when love comes into your soul 
 tell Jesus that you love Him and give yourself to 
 Him. Pray tor others. Pray for them by name. 
 Make your petition definite, rather than general. 
 What an unspeakable privilege to speak alone 
 to the King, in the name of an acceptable Media- 
 tor." At these appointed seasons, their seclusion 
 was as perfect as though they had been on Tabor's 
 hill. The school was divided into sections, each one 
 being committed to a teacher, whose duty it was to 
 have special oversight of the manners, conduct and 
 religious welfare of those belonging to her section. 
 
 No extra means were ever employed. A person 
 might live there for weeks, during a time of special 
 interest, and discover nothing unusual, except, per- 
 haps, more tenderness during religious exercises. 
 The religious interest would never be introduced to 
 
 70 
 
the visitor, unless he expressed a special interest. 
 Then he would find a fountain, ready to overflow 
 when the channel was opened, and he would see 
 that in their closets lay the secret of the constant 
 descent of the Spirit. 
 
 A missionary meeting was monthly maintained. 
 Its object was to disseminate the latest informa- 
 tion in regard to the moral and religious condition 
 of the world. Letters from missionaries, who had 
 gone from these halls, formed a set of electric 
 wires, through which the missionary spirit was 
 transmitted. 
 
 Personal consecration is the strongest evidence 
 of interest, but money -giving is also an index, and 
 it is remarkable that the annual offering in the 
 early years, ranged from six to eleven hundred dol- 
 lars, although the salaries of the teachers never 
 exceeded two hundred dollars, and the pupils were, 
 many of them, the daughters of ministers and other 
 men of limited means. Miss Lyon always said: 
 4 'Be satisfied with nothing but the Bible standard 
 of giving. He knows your circumstances. Answer 
 to Him. I don't believe in the maxim, 'Never the 
 poorer for giving to the Lord/ unless it means spir- 
 itually poor. Then I fully indorse it, but we ought 
 to give, until we are the poorer in dollars and 
 cents." 
 
 71 
 
IX. 
 
 CO-OPERATION OF TEACHERS. 
 
 Miss Lyon's teachers warmly endorsed her meth- 
 ods. If they had not, they could, to a great ex- 
 tent, have counteracted her efforts. She had care- 
 fully guarded against this. At her suggestion, the 
 Trustees, from the first, adopted the rule that the 
 right of appointing the teachers should be vested 
 in the principal. On no consideration would she 
 have taken the responsibility of a school where 
 this was not conceded. Her teachers must be a 
 trained band, with congenial views. 
 
 The first year all were from the Ipswich school. 
 After that they were selected from her own 
 graduates. Like her, they wished to labor, not 
 for money or for fame, but to benefit the world. 
 In selecting them her first question was not, "Are 
 you of one religious denomination or another;" 
 but, "Are you like the Master, willing to make 
 yourself poor that others, through your poverty, 
 maybe rich?" 
 
 They could have commanded large salaries else- 
 where, but money was not the motive which kept 
 them at that alma mater. However they might 
 
 72 
 
differ in tastes and attainments, they all believed 
 this to be a model school, especially in giving the 
 Bible the first place in its list of studies, and in the 
 methods of discipline adopted. They kept con- 
 stantly in mind, that at the winding up of life's 
 drama, they and their pupils are not to be asked 
 how much Latin and algebra they knew, but 
 whether they had loved and followed Christ, and 
 were united to Him as "the branch is united to 
 the vine." They believed that the sense of ac- 
 countability to God would secure a higher stand- 
 ard of study among the young ladies than any 
 method drawn from the world of time and sense. 
 
 At the weekly meeting of these teachers there 
 was, we are told, no discord. They seemed to see 
 "eye to eye." Miss Lyon mingled with them, as an 
 older sister, ever ready to receive their suggestions. 
 No slurs on unsuccessful scholars were allowed. 
 
 "Speak of them as sisters," was Miss Lyon's 
 oft-repeated injunction, and the precept was ob- 
 served in letter and in spirit. The progress of the 
 young ladies in whatever was "lovely and of good 
 report" was reported here, and the extra effort 
 necessary, on behalf of those who were not mak- 
 ing the best use of their time, was apportioned 
 among them. A certain pastoral care was exer- 
 cised by them all. 
 
 73 
 
X. 
 
 ENDS ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century 
 the standard of female education was low, as 
 proven by the statistics of the National Board 
 of Education. A trio of ladies appeared with ad- 
 vanced thoughts upon the subject: Emma Hart, 
 afterwards Mrs. Willard, of Troy, N. Y., born 
 in 1787; Mary Lyon, ten years later, and Cath- 
 erine Beecher in 1800. Their style and methods 
 were different, but they were equally in earnest. 
 
 With Mrs. Willard the esthetic element was 
 dominant. Miss Beecher, perhaps the greatest 
 genius of the three, was least concentrated in her 
 plans, and chose the Western States as her field. 
 Miss Lyon's leading thought was to prepare con- 
 secrated minds for the service of Christ in the 
 great work of elevating humanity. 
 
 In 1838 private benevolence placed $10,000 at 
 the disposal of Horace Mann, secretary of the 
 Massachusetts Board of Education, towards es- 
 tablishing a state school for the special training 
 
 74. 
 
of teachers, and in 1839 such a school was plant- 
 ed at Lexington in that State. But Ipswich and 
 Holyoke had for years been earnestly engaged in 
 that work, and many of their pupils were already 
 employed. Others were building homes in destitute 
 American fields, and some were shedding light on 
 foreign shores. Deeply convinced that neither men 
 of science, merchant princes or busy politicians 
 could regenerate the world, without the effective 
 ministry of mothers rising early and sowing good 
 seed, nipping vice in the bud and maintaining the 
 cause of God as their own, she sought daily to 
 impress it on others. 
 
 We regard Miss Lyon as one of the founders of 
 the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Before 
 leaving her native town she organized a society of 
 young ladies " For the enlargement of Zion's Tab- 
 ernacle" and with her youthful coadjutors can- 
 vassed their rural district for members. 
 
 Mrs. Bowker, of Boston, first president of the 
 New England Branch, always referred to Miss 
 Lyon as "The source of her inspiration," and 
 many others would give similar testimony. But 
 although her desires embraced the world, she neg- 
 lected nothing she could do at home. While speed- 
 ing workers to the foreign field, she sent many 
 more every year to needy places in our own 
 
 75 
 
country, and in regard to many of them she was 
 especially enthusiastic. She quotes from one: 
 
 "With my baby on my knee I am teaching 
 seventeen pupils. Have already sent out several 
 teachers and others are preparing to go." 
 
 In the autumn of 1848 she missed from her 
 staff of teachers three, on whom she had much 
 relied: Miss Abigail Moore was married to Rev. 
 Ebenezer Burgess, of Satara, India; Miss Maude 
 Chapin to Rev. Allen Hagen, of Ahmednagar, and 
 Miss Lucy Lyon to Rev. Edward C. Lord, mis- 
 sionary to China. Two of these were her own 
 nieces. They were all greatly blessed in their la- 
 bors abroad, but she sadly missed them. In ad- 
 dition to the journal, which was kept for them 
 in the Seminary, Miss Lyon wrote, occasionally, 
 what she called a circular letter, to her daugh- 
 ters in foreign lands, from one of which we ex- 
 tract a few sentences to show how she kept in 
 touch with them all: 
 
 "I will not refer to passing events, as I know 
 you are kept informed of these nor can I tell 
 you any new truths or repeat new promises 
 which God has given to light the feet of pilgrims 
 to the Celestial City, but I would like to tell 
 you how God is fulfilling His promises to me, 
 and how He is visiting the Seminary, not with 
 
 76 
 
the whirlwind or the fire, but with the still small 
 voice of the Spirit. May you all be rich in faith 
 and in labor, at last receiving a crown of glory 
 which shall never fade away." 
 
 But Miss Lyon's chief work was always in the 
 Seminary. Among the careless, one year, were 
 thirty who had listened to Miss Lyon's instruc- 
 tions before, and it was feared that they were 
 Gospel-hardened, and sixty newly entered, who did 
 not consider themselves Christians, making near- 
 ly ninety in all. Miss Lyon was accustomed to 
 spend an hour with these each Sabbath evening. 
 But a heavy cold confined her for weeks to her 
 room. One of the other teachers took her place, 
 but she became much discouraged, and said she 
 could not again undertake to secure their atten- 
 tion. Then a band of youthful Christians volun- 
 teered their assistance, and a wonderful work 
 was wrought. Some say it is wonderful how the 
 blessing of God, in converting power, seemed al- 
 ways to rest upon that school. But is it won- 
 derful, in view of the fact that the teachers were 
 united in seeking ''first the kingdom of God?" 
 
 77 
 
XL 
 
 LAST DAYS. 
 
 Although, when one's life has been single-eyed 
 or the glory of God, the circumstances of their 
 death are really of little importance. Yet, to those 
 who knew Miss Lyon and to such as have be- 
 come interested in her character, through testimony, 
 even these are full of interest. 
 
 A few weeks before the close of her life she 
 seemed providentially led to her chosen retreat in 
 Monson, with Deacon and Mrs. Porter, whose friend- 
 ship she greatly prized, and who always secured 
 for her the retirement she desired. She accepted 
 their hospitality most gratefully, as from Heav- 
 en's own hand, and regarded it as needful prep- 
 aration for earthly duties. In this case, how- 
 ever, it was to fit her for a higher sphere. 
 
 To her niece in India she wrote: "I am tak- 
 ing an old-fashioned vacation, in this sweet- 
 est of resting places. I can read or write, ride 
 or visit, with nothing to disturb me, and with 
 scarcely a thought of home, except as I pray 
 
 78 
 
that the Holy Spirit may dwell there. My health 
 is unusually good, but at all times, whether my 
 strength is more or less, I realize that I am fast 
 hastening to my eternal home. 
 
 "I hope, however, that I may have more work 
 to do upon earth, and that it all may be faith- 
 fully done. By grace we have been redeemed, by 
 grace we are sanctified; every one's work is ap- 
 pointed, and by grace alone we have the strength 
 and heart to do it. This doctrine of grace is 
 more and more precious to me now, and what 
 will it be hereafter, when we stand with our ' robes 
 washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb!' 
 My work, as you know, is made up of an al 
 most endless variety of nameless duties interwov- 
 en and often complicated. It is a goodly heri- 
 tage of labor, but every hour I feel the need 
 of an internal force that is divine to carry me 
 on in the right path. When, in the midst of my 
 work, I am unexpectedly called from one thing 
 to another, I whisper in my heart: 'Lord, help 
 me to be patient, and in all things to be faith- 
 ful.' How amazing it is that grace allows us to do 
 all for Christ, and permits us always to pray in 
 His name." 
 
 Miss Whitman was at this time absent from the 
 Sminary, on account of impaired health, and in 
 
 79 
 
writing to her, Miss Lyon says: "I have been 
 thinking that we might rest and read together, 
 somewhere among the mountains, during our next 
 vacation. So, you see, I am looking forward to an- 
 other rest in the autumn." 
 
 She found rest, but not upon earth. Her autumn 
 months were to be spent amid celestial scenes in 
 companionship with Christ himself and the spirits 
 of the just made perfect, some of whom she had 
 guided to that blessed home. In March one of the 
 young ladies had a severe attack of influenza. 
 Erysipelas of malignant type set in. Miss Lyon 
 had also been suffering from influenza, which was 
 very prevalent at that time, but she insisted on 
 being with the sick one, making all arrangements 
 for conveying the intelligence, as quickly and 
 gently as possible, to her friends, and met the 
 young ladies in the Hall, both morning and even- 
 ing. She found them naturally much excited, fear- 
 ing an epidemic, and soothed and quieted them 
 in the most motherly way. Addressing herself to 
 the assembled school, she said : 
 
 "I look upon all distressing anxiety about the 
 future as indicative of distrust in God" adding 
 those words, since placed upon her monument: 
 " There is nothing in the Universe that I fear, but 
 that I shall not know all my duty, or shall fail 
 
 80 
 
to do it." She then turned their attention from 
 the painful circumstances, and seemed to follow 
 the dying one to the gates of the Celestial City, 
 which stood open to receive her, exclaiming, "If 
 I were in her place how happy I should be to 
 go in," but quickly added, "Not that I would 
 be unclothed, while I can do anything for you." 
 She then addressed the impenitent in a most im- 
 pressive manner, expressing her gratitude that the 
 one called for, was not of their number, and 
 said with much feeling: "If one of you had been 
 in her place, I could not have gone down with 
 you to that world of despair. It would have been 
 too painful for me, and I should have felt that I 
 must draw the veil and leave you." She then urged 
 them to enter at once on the loving service of 
 Christ, not through fear of death, but in view of 
 His lovely character and His infinite claims upon 
 them. The next morning she was very sick herself, 
 and grew rapidly worse. Those in attendance were 
 alarmed. Her pastor called. For a moment his 
 voice recalled her, but reason soon fled. He bent 
 over and said: "Is Christ precious to you now?" 
 She lifted both hands and replied audibly and with 
 emphasis, "Yes." This was her last rational 
 word. He repeated short sentences from God's 
 Word, and, for the moment, she seemed to un- 
 
 81 
 
derstand and appreciate them. Those which re- 
 ferred to the glory of God seemed to interest 
 her most. She tried to speak, but could not. 
 Mr. Laurie said: "Don't try. God can be glori- 
 fied by silence," and she responded with a smile. 
 An hour later her freed spirit was mingling in the 
 glories of heaven. We would not recall her ; rather 
 would we be thankful for the life so long be- 
 stowed. 
 
 Funeral services were held in the village church 
 into which, on anniversary occasions, she had so 
 often led her band of white-robed maidens. Dr. 
 Humphrey, of Amherst College, preached from the 
 double text: "The path of the just is as the shin- 
 ing light which shineth more and more unto the 
 perfect day," and "The memory of the just is 
 blessed." The procession moved to the place chosen 
 for burial on Seminary ground a little south of 
 the orchard, where it could be distinctly seen 
 from the rooms on that side of the building. It 
 is a sacred spot and has been visited by thousands. 
 Soon after, a monument of Italian marble was 
 erected, a square column resting on a pedestal of 
 granite. The inscriptions are as follows: 
 
 82 
 
MARY LYON, 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF 
 
 MOUNT HOLYOKE FEMALE SEMINARY, 
 
 AND 
 FOR TWELVE YEARS, ITS PRINCIPAL. 
 
 A TEACHER FOR THIRTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 OF 
 MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND PUPILS. 
 
 BORN FEBRUARY 28 TH, 1797. 
 DIED MARCH STH, 1849. 
 
 On the north side: 
 
 "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let 
 her own works praise her in the gates." 
 
 On the south side: 
 
 " Servant of God, well done; 
 
 Rest from thy lov'd employ; 
 The battle fought, the victory won, 
 
 Enter thy Master's joy " 
 
 On the east side, the trustees directed to be 
 placed her own emphatic words: 
 
 "There is nothing in the Universe that I fear, 
 but that I shall not know all my duty, or shall 
 fail to do it." 
 
 83 
 
XII. 
 
 TESTIMONIALS AFTER DEATH. 
 
 We gather a few extracts from Dr. Humphreys* 
 sermon and Dr. Hitchcock's anniversary address 
 the following year. 
 
 Dr. Humphreys says: "Her mind was of high 
 order, clear, strong and well-balanced. It is very 
 rare to find such strength and order controlled by 
 the best common sense. Taken all in all, I hardly 
 dare to express the high estimation which my 
 long acquaintance constrains me to cherish, lest I 
 should seem to exaggerate. I certainly should not 
 express it, but in the presence of those who have 
 had equal or better opportunities for marking her 
 radiant and upward course. Yet it was the 
 moral and religious in Miss Lyon's character that 
 eclipsed all her other endowments. To say that 
 she was eminently benevolent is not enough. She 
 seemed the very embodiment of love. In humble 
 imitation of Christ, she manifested it in face and 
 conduct wherever she went, not consulting her 
 
 84 
 
own convenience. I appeal to all who knew her 
 beneficent course from early life, if she did not live 
 incomparably more for others, than she did for her- 
 self. I do not believe that a single being can recall 
 an instance in which, since she entered on her 
 bright career, she seemed to be actuated by selfish- 
 ness, but all the thousands who knew her, might 
 be challenged to show that she ever, by word or 
 deed, seemed to prefer her own advantage to the 
 good of others." 
 
 Dr. Hitchcock says: "It is just to state, in re- 
 gard to her mind, that there was an unusual de- 
 velopment of all the powers without the predomi- 
 nance of any; and yet she had most striking 
 traits. She possessed, in a peculiar degree, the 
 ability to seize the main points and master the 
 principles on which a subject rested. She did not 
 so naturally attend to details, but finding this to 
 be indispensable, she yielded with so good a grace 
 that she seemed to be following an instinct of her 
 nature. Without this, she could never have excelled 
 as she did, in the laboratory or in planning the 
 Seminary building. The inventive powers were 
 notably developed, not the poetic, but the ability 
 to devise means for overcoming difficulties. Truth- 
 ful as an echo, and clear as the sky on a sunny 
 day, she was always controlled by good judgment. 
 
 85 
 
" What an amount of labor has been lost in this 
 world for want of discretion! Rarely did she lose 
 any effort for lack of this, though her sagacity 
 was often severely tested. It was a great trial to 
 her, that she sometimes felt compelled to act con- 
 trary to the judgment of those she much esteemed, 
 but having carefully and prayerfully surveyed the 
 ground, the path seemed radiant to her eyes, though 
 to others it might be enveloped in mist; and it is 
 but justice to say, that almost every one ultimately 
 acknowledged her wisdom. She possessed, in a re- 
 markable degree, the power of mental abstraction. 
 When engaged on an important subject no truant 
 thoughts or irritated nerves seemed ever to in- 
 trude, nor could the external world break up her 
 almost mesmeric concentration. She also possessed 
 a peculiar power of controlling other minds. Before 
 you were aware, her well-woven net of real argu- 
 ment was over you, and you felt that the fingers 
 of love and knowledge had woven it, that she was 
 actuated by most benevolent motives, and that it 
 was hazardous for you to resist so much light and 
 love. Her energy was a placid power, yet it had 
 great strength. It might fail of success to-day, 
 but she could quietly wait till to-morrow. But, 
 after all that has been said, her religious convic- 
 tions were her chief motive power. 
 
 86 
 
"In ordinary acquaintance, one would rarely 
 perceive how deep and pure was her loyalty to 
 Christ, as the foundation of her piety, but I have 
 looked back over nay long acquaintance with her 
 to find a single instance, in which she manifested 
 unchristian feeling or showed the lurkings of world- 
 ly pride or selfish ambition, and I confess I cannot 
 remember one. They might have existed, but it 
 needed a keener moral vision than I had, to discover 
 them. There were two principles which always 
 controlled her, a sense of personal responsibility, 
 and faith in the loving providence of God. These 
 convictions led her, in the early morning of her day, 
 to regard knowledge 'more precious than silver,* 
 and to discipline all her powers, polishing her armor, 
 for the battle of life. 
 
 " Conscious that her hand was placed in the hand 
 of the Infinite Father, she took step by step with 
 as much confidence as though an iron pavement 
 was before her, and her life was always approaching 
 a climax. Each step seemed a gain on the preceding. 
 One extract from her ' Missionary Offering ' will 
 show how deeply the sense of personal responsi- 
 bility possessed her: 'I felt that my duty in my 
 own little sphere was more to me, in the sight of 
 God, than the duty to the whole world beside. If 
 I could throw my influence over the whole country, 
 
 87 
 
and bring thousands into the treasury of the Lord, 
 it might not be so important a duty for me, as to 
 give from my own little purse, the last farthing 
 which God requires. Could I so plead in be- 
 half of the heathen that all our churches should- 
 be filled with hearts bowed in the presence of God, 
 it might not be so important a duty for me, as to 
 carry my own feeble petition to the throne of grace.' 
 
 " Her uniform cheerfulness was one element of her 
 power. No doubt her remarkable health contrib- 
 uted largely to this. But, more than that, she was 
 conscious of God's approval. She knew that she 
 meant to promote the good and the happiness of 
 others, and that, therefore, God approved of her 
 conduct. She expected the final reward from Him, 
 therefore perverseness or ingratitude in others only 
 brought her nearer to Him. What an example for 
 our imitation! Most of us try to mix selfishness 
 and benevolence, principles as repellant as oil and 
 water, and the result is, we are double-minded, 
 inconsistent and unhappy. 
 
 " Given, purity of motive and convictions that 
 we are in the path of duty, any one may. attain 
 at least a measure of her success in life. It was 
 God's gift to Mary Lyon, and just as surely will 
 be ours. A great motive is essential to happiness, 
 and this she early possessed. Therefore, she was 
 
 88 
 
radiant with hope. One who knew her well has 
 said: 'Never did I see a cloud upon her face/ 
 Through 'the telescope of faith she could always 
 see clear sky.' 
 
 "As a teacher of science and literature, she pos- 
 sessed great versatility of talents, and was 
 distinguished for thorough work. Those who 
 have attended the examinations of her classes have 
 been convinced of this. On one occasion, after the 
 senior class had recited to Miss Lyon in Butler's 
 Analogy, we remarked the conversation between 
 two college presidents. One said: 'How is it that 
 these young ladies recite better in this, than our 
 young men?' 'I do not know,' he replied, 'unless 
 they have a better teacher.' 
 
 "Whatever she taught, she did it with an enthu- 
 siasm which her pupils, of necessity, shared. Better 
 than most of us, she knew her own deficiencies. 
 One may possess the rarest gifts, and yet for the 
 lack of a few may fail in their life work. One or 
 two small leaks will sink the largest ship, unless 
 foreseen and provided against. 
 
 "Miss Lyon began life under many disadvan- 
 tages, and was originally a crude force in compari- 
 son with many others. She felt her deficiencies , 
 and with energy and courage, aided by a happy 
 disposition, she took herself in hand, determined 
 
 89 
 
to conquer her undesirable self, and on the ruins of 
 her conquest to build a brave and lovable woman, 
 'fit for the Master's use/ After passing a period of 
 mental drill, mainly practiced upon herself, after 
 extended culture and much experience, she found that 
 she still lacked some constitutional traits. She 
 knew there were some details she could not most 
 successfully conduct, and she set herself to seek out 
 those who could. 'Great to plan, less perfect in de- 
 tail, she wrought the system into perfect whole, but 
 gave the work to others, who could fit the parts 
 with more facility than she. As chief commander, 
 few her peers. None better knew to choose her aids ; 
 here lies the secret of a grand and useful life.' 
 
 " It was a scene of moral grandeur when, on the 
 fiftieth anniversary of her birth, she looked out 
 upon hundreds of women laboring for the world, 
 who had been converted through her instrumen- 
 tality, and not less than three thousand dissemin- 
 ating the truths which she had taught them. Nor 
 could she fail to see the widening influence of the 
 new Seminary until 'the world shall be filled with 
 the knowledge of the Lord.' 
 
 "The picture is complete. Her life was neither 
 too long or too short. She died at the right time, 
 while her armor was bright. She was beginning 
 to feel the limitations of time. I would not like to 
 
 90 
 
call her back. Rather would I be borne on angels ' 
 wings to Mount Zion, where she dwells, and hear 
 her speak of the wonders of Providence in her earth- 
 ly course as she sees them now in the transparen- 
 cies of Heaven. I would like to know how her 
 earthly discipline fitted her for her present sphere 
 of labor in the kingdom of God, and whether in 
 some way, as yet unfolded to us, she does not still 
 minister to her beloved Seminary. 
 
 1 'Alas! these aspirations are vain; but if we are 
 faithful, as was our glorified friend, our song and 
 our communion will be the music and intercourse 
 of Heaven, and that will be enough."* 
 
 In a notice of Miss Lyon, soon after her death, 
 Miss Lyman, of Montreal, at that time lady princi- 
 pal of Vassar College, asks : "Is she missed ? Scarce- 
 ly a State in the American Union but contains those 
 whom she had trained. Ere this, amid the hunt- 
 ing-grounds of the Sioux, and the villages of the 
 Cherokees, the tear of the missionary has wet the 
 page which told of her departure. The Sandwich 
 Islander has asked, why his white teacher's eye 
 is dim, as she reads her American letters? The 
 swarthy African laments, with his sorrowing 
 guide, who cries, 'Help, Lord, for the godly man 
 ceaseth.' The cinnamon groves of Ceylon and the 
 
 'President Hitchcock, " Entered Into Life," February, 1864. 
 
 91 
 
palm trees of India will over-shadow her deceased 
 daughters, while those left to bear the burden 
 and heat of the day will weep for one whose 
 prayers and letters they so highly prized. Among 
 the Nestorians of Persia, and at the base of Mt. 
 Olympus, will her name be softly breathed as the 
 household name of one whom God hath taken. 
 We can only add the eloquent tribute of Rev. Dr. 
 Culyer after the graduating exercises in 1879, and 
 even this we must epitomize: 'That procession of 
 nearly three hundred white-robed maidens was, to 
 my mind, a triumphal procession in honor of 
 Mary Lyon. Her body has been resting in yonder 
 grove for more than thirty years, but she was 
 the pioneer of the highest education for American 
 women! That crown belongs to her! Others, like 
 Harriet Hosmer, have handled the chisel, like 
 Marion Mitchell, the telescope, and the pen like 
 Mrs. Stowe, but the life of Mary Lyon was an 
 epic an added verse to the eleventh chapter of 
 Hebrews. She was a heroine. Not only did she 
 teach her pupils the higher branches of litera- 
 ture, but she taught to labor and to pray, 'to 
 suffer and be strong.' Scores of pastors' wives 
 have been trained at Holyoke, and more than sev- 
 enty foreign missionaries have already gone from 
 her classes. 
 
 92 
 
"So many wives and daughters of missionaries 
 were present, that it almost seemed like a meet- 
 ing of the American Board and all through the 
 halls and art galleries was breathed a gladsome 
 spiritual atmosphere. I visited the grave in the 
 grove, near Williston Hall. Near by, was a tiny 
 lake, on which the young women exercise their 
 muscles with the oar. A well - developed three 
 hundred they were. So admirable is their regi- 
 men, that there has not been a death in the in- 
 stitution for ten years. But I stood by the mon- 
 ument a plain block of marble! I read the in- 
 scriptions, and thought of the motto she used to 
 give to her graduating classes : ' When you choose 
 your fields of labor, go where nobody else is will- 
 ing to go.' What a seed-corn that is, for holy 
 consecration to Christ! It has germinated into 
 some of the noblest lives which America has fur- 
 nished. As I stood there, I felt the same thrill, 
 as when I stood by the historic hay-stack, where 
 the American Board was born." 
 
 93 
 
XIIL 
 
 ABIDING INFLUENCES. 
 
 Alumni Associations, in different parts of the 
 country, have done much to preserve Miss Lyon's 
 influence. A few of the testimonials are recalled, 
 which were given at a meeting of the Northwestern 
 Association, held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, in 
 Chicago. 
 
 One lady, after the lapse of thirty years, says: 
 "I think a day seldom passes, that I do not think 
 of Miss Lyon." Another, after the expiration of 
 thirty-six years: "Her teachings are still invalu- 
 able to me, and more and more as age advances." 
 And the compiler of this sketch, after fifty years, 
 can bear a similar testimony. 
 
 Miss Lyon sent but one book to the publish- 
 ers, but she wrote many in the hearts of her 
 pupils. One says: "Mount Holyoke Seminary 
 seemed to me a memorial of prayer. The corner- 
 stone would never have been laid but for prevail- 
 ing prayer. The study of "The Word" as a me- 
 
 94 
 
dium of communication with God is well presented 
 in another extract. 
 
 " Mary Lyon ! I seem to see her coming from 
 her room to Seminary Hall, Bible in hand, her 
 body and soul aglow with light every act pro- 
 claiming, ' By the spirit of the Lord the work is to 
 be done.' Then she 'opened to us the Scriptures, 
 with the realization of a great heart." 
 
 Another : 
 
 "That voice so touchingly tender, 
 
 Comes down to me thro' the years; 
 A pathos seems to mingle 
 Her own, with her Savior's tears." 
 
 "Her own large-hearted benevolence impressed 
 her pupils through the whole of their seminary 
 course. Thirty-five years have passed, since I looked 
 upon her face. Of all the noble band of women 
 who sat on either side of her, none stand out quite 
 so distinctly in my mind, as Lucy Lyon and Fidelia 
 Fiske. Together, they embodied my ideas of Faith, 
 Hope and Charity. Miss Fiske's clear tones and 
 patiently waiting manner suited well her name, 
 Fidelia. Miss Lucy's force and buoyancy placed 
 her second in my group. * But the greatest of these 
 is Charity,' and Miss Lyon, greatest of American 
 women, crowns with beauty all my remembrances." 
 
 "She wonderfully impressed us all with the value 
 
 95 
 
of time, an impression which has remained with 
 me through all the years. Who could forget how 
 she would sometimes stand at the table, with one 
 hand on the chair of a delinquent until she ap- 
 peared, and then remark, ' One minute lost by ninety 
 persons, makes ninety minutes forever gone.' " 
 
 "A personal centre is the strongest of bonds, " 
 and this was proven at Mount Holyoke. When 
 she thought occasion called for it, she was very 
 sympathetic shall I say magnetic?" 
 
 One writes: "I had greatly desired to attend the 
 Seminary. At last, the way was opened, and I was 
 delighted. But I soon found that my strength was 
 not equal to the appointed tasks. She observed 
 this, and in regard to my domestic work, which I 
 had considered very light, she said, 'You need not 
 do it any more. Instead of that, you may do a 
 little needle-work for me.' But my health con- 
 tinued to fail, and I knew I must go home. I shall 
 never forget the tenderness with which she said, 
 'I know it is a great disappointment to you, but 
 you are not strong, and you must not try to do 
 great things. Just creep along as you can Jesus 
 knows all about it.' This I have been trying to 
 do ever since, and yet it has been my privilege to 
 do something for the Master, of which this is not 
 the place to speak." 
 
 96 
 
Should any one say, "This was an exceptional 
 case,' 1 we reply, "It certainly was." But, we ap- 
 prehend, that all her pupils passed before her kindly 
 inspection with the same individuality. 
 
 Take another case of a different kind. One of 
 the young ladies told me, that she was standing 
 by a window, feeling lonely and sad, when Miss 
 Lyon, passing by, said, "I think you want to see 
 your mother." She replied, "I have no mother." 
 Miss Lyon put her arms around her, and said, "I 
 will be a mother to you. Come to me at any time, 
 as you would go to her, if she were here." 
 
 When some useless fashion appeared, and some 
 of the young ladies returned after vacation, having 
 adopted the extreme, her surcharged battery of 
 humor sometimes flashed sallies of pleasantry, very 
 amusing. Sarcasm is a sharp tool, and, in her 
 earlier years, she sometimes used it, to eradicate 
 follies ; but, regarding it as liable to be too severe, 
 she laid it almost entirely aside, in riper years. 
 
 "She indelibly impressed upon us the power of 
 little things, the multitude of apparent trifles, which 
 in most cases make up the whole of life, and that 
 the secret of true happiness lies in forgetting self 
 and living for others." 
 
 Most of the friction in society comes by the de- 
 parture from the accepted principles of action. 
 
 97 
 
either consciously or unconsciously, from selfish 
 motives. Miss Lyon, as quoted by one, puts it in 
 this way: 
 
 "It is astonishing how many favorite children 
 there are, and for how many reasons ; one, because 
 she is the only child ; another, the youngest of the 
 family, or under the care of her grandmother, or 
 her name is Abbie! Why, it would not be strange 
 if some of you had been favorites of somebody ! 
 Now, many times you will want some special 
 privilege. Just ask yourself, candidly, would it be 
 reasonable to grant this to a hundred others? If 
 not, should I ask for it?" But here it should be 
 said, that, although so strenuous in regard to 
 general principles, no one could be more ready, for 
 sufficient reasons, to relax the home laws. 
 
 Her law was, emphatically, love. 
 
 98 
 
XIV. 
 
 MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE. 
 
 This institution, first chartered as Mount Hoi- 
 yoke Seminary, was begun in a very quiet way, 
 but since it laid the foundation of all American 
 colleges for women, the significance of the move- 
 ment, will never be known until the history of 
 the nations shall be ended. As a cultivator of 
 public sentiment, its work was done within the 
 first half century. Not only had similar schools 
 been planted all over our own country, but Eu- 
 rope, Asia, and even Africa, had small centers 
 from which like influences were spreading. Public 
 sentiment called loudly for advantages equal in 
 every respect to those offered to young men 
 and Vassar, Wellesley and Smith, with their 
 throngs of students, witnessed to the world, that 
 the needs of woman were recognized as never 
 before. 
 
 The question whether this Seminary should be- 
 come a college was often discussed. Some were 
 too conservative to favor the change. They said : 
 
 99 
 
"Let us extend the course, but remain a Sem- 
 inary." A compromise was finally made and 
 there was to be both a Seminary and a Colle- 
 giate course. The first year, out of three hun- 
 dred pupils, only eleven belonged to the collegi- 
 ate department, while in 1892 only eight ap- 
 plied for the seminary course, and the name was 
 changed to Mt. Holyoke College. Thus in the 
 face of opposition the problem worked itself out. 
 Shall we not rather say, that He into whose 
 hands the founder had placed it, worked out her 
 purpose, that here should be given the highest 
 education ? 
 
 The Mary Lyon fund, for the endowment of 
 the President's chair, was now completed and 
 Miss Elizabeth Blanchard who had been for five 
 years Principal of the Seminary, was appointed 
 Acting President. It was soon evident that her 
 health was failing, and a leave of absence was 
 granted for the following year. But vigor did 
 not return and she died in Boston November 
 29th, 1891. To this part of Christ's vineyard 
 she had given the best years of her life, and her 
 memory is hallowed. The eyes of the Trustees, 
 then turned to Miss Brigham, who for twenty 
 years had been Associate Principal of the Sem- 
 inary on Brooklyn Heights. Her acceptance gave 
 
 100 
 
promise of a bright future, but a railroad disaster 
 summoned her to the immediate presence of the 
 King. 
 
 Miss Louisa Cowles, Professor of Geology, was 
 requested to act as President for the year. Re- 
 luctantly she took up the burden, nobly sustain- 
 ed by every member of the Faculty. 
 
 In the early part of that year occurred the 
 death of Miss Lydia Shattuck, Professor Emeri- 
 tus of Botany. The hundreds who had filled her 
 classes will ever keep her memory green. 
 
 In the spring of 1890 the announcement was 
 made that Mrs. Elizabeth Storrs Mead had ac- 
 cepted the position of President. Admirably fit- 
 ted by native gifts and broad culture, this an- 
 nouncement was eagerly received. To eleven classes, 
 her husband, as Secretary of the Board of Trus- 
 tees, had presented the diplomas and this mem- 
 ory added interest to the occasion when Mrs. 
 Mead, as President, performed the same office. 
 
 Great advances have been made in the stand- 
 ard of scholarship a broad range of elective 
 studies have been introduced, also what is known 
 as "The Group System," and, in the judgment of 
 the most competent persons, Mount Holyoke Col- 
 lege stands to-day in the front rank for the broad- 
 est, noblest culture that a woman can secure. 
 
 101 
 
Amid all that is new, the supreme idea of 
 Mary Lyon permeates every fiber of the institu- 
 tion which she founded. " Holiness to the Lord" 
 is still the motto of all the managers. 
 
 Chiefly from The Boston Congregationalist the 
 following section is abridged: 
 
 On the 27th of September, 1896, the Mount 
 Holyoke Seminary was destroyed by fire. 
 
 Readers of the morning papers, as they read 
 the headlines, undoubtedly paused long enough 
 to regret this loss to "The Mother of Colleges.'* 
 
 In due time the tidings found their way to 
 her graduates, in India, Turkey, China and Japan, 
 to the Spanish girls at San Sabastian, and the 
 American schools for girls on the shores of the 
 Bosphorus; wherever Holyoke women were hold- 
 ing up the ideals of the gospel. Everywhere a 
 sense of bereavement was felt. Many students 
 had already been turned away for want of room, 
 and this edifice had so many cherished associa- 
 tions. Still, it was but one of a group of more 
 modern buildings that had grown up around it. 
 
 Dr. Pearson, a princely giver to educational in- 
 stitutions, had offered $50,000 for an endow- 
 ment fund on condition that $150,000 more 
 could be secured, and the Alumni Associations 
 all over the country had been endeavoring to se- 
 
 102 
 
cure more extensive accommodations. The cor- 
 respondence was in the competent hands of Miss 
 Anna C. Edwards, for many years an honored 
 Associate Principal, and of Miss Louisa F. 
 Cowles, Secretary of the National Alumni Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 The Lyman Williston Hall, built by the mu- 
 nificence of Mr. Williston, of Northampton, and 
 the Hall of Science, dedicated to the memory of 
 Miss Shattuck, had already been erected, as also 
 an observatory by Mr. Williston in memory of 
 his son. One group of Alumni, in and around 
 New York and Brooklyn, had expressed their de- 
 termination to build a Mary Brigham Hall. But 
 hitherto the majority had roomed in the origin- 
 al building. What could be done? 
 
 Not until now, did they know the breadth of 
 South Hadley hospitality. The relation between 
 the "town and the gown" had always been 
 pleasant, but now one after another came for- 
 ward, offering to take from one to a dozen to 
 his home, and soon every one was provided for. 
 Not only did the fire reveal the hospitality of 
 the people, but the quality of the girls. 
 
 The President says: "The old Mount Holyoke 
 spirit of unselfishness seemed to animate them 
 all. Even the exit from the burning building was 
 
 103 
 
not so much a flight as an orderly retreat. There 
 was literally no panic or uproar, and no one 
 seemed to be mourning her own losses, although 
 in some cases they were deprived of everything 
 but the clothes they had on. 
 
 The next morning, while the ruins were still 
 smoking, they assembled in the village church, 
 almost as calmly as though they had been in 
 their accustomed place. Mrs. Mead spoke re- 
 assuring words and when the roll had been call- 
 ed, the college spirit broke forth in the song be- 
 ginning: "Holyoke, oh, Holyoke." Every one felt 
 thankful that the library, which was the gift of 
 Mrs. Durand, of Wellesley, the Williston Hall, 
 with its paintings and art treasures, the Science 
 Hall, with its valuable apparatus, and the Ob- 
 servatory, with its fine telescope, were spared to 
 them, and all the classes convened as usual on 
 the following day. 
 
 The Trustees in their meeting were at once con- 
 fronted with the question whether the old idea 
 should be enshrined in one structure, large enough 
 to shelter the entire college, or the more modern 
 plan of several smaller edifices be adopted? They 
 decided on the latter, not, however, to lack a uni- 
 fying center. The Administration Building, with 
 the Chapel, which will be known as Mary Lyon 
 
 104 
 
Hall, will be central in the group, and there all the 
 common interests of the college will be focused. A 
 recent gift of twenty -five acres from Hon. E. A. 
 Goodnow, of Worcester, Mass., affords them ample 
 space (the grounds now containing about one hun- 
 dred acres), and a noted landscape gardener ensures 
 a picturesque arrangement and the preservation of 
 cherished landmarks. 
 
 Miss Lyon's monument, surrounded by fine old 
 trees, will always be a shrine, before which many 
 will stand with bowed heads and reverent hearts, 
 and near by will be four new dormitories, the 
 Pearsons, the Rockefeller, the Safford and the Por- 
 ter, all named for munificent donors to the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 There will be a new Mount Holyoke, but it 
 will never part company with the old. The same 
 ideals prevail, and never was personal influence 
 more effective than now. Girls will come, as in 
 days gone by, to be instructed in earthly lore 
 by the most competent teachers, and will learn 
 at the same time, what to do with their educa- 
 tion when they get it. Simplicity and earnest 
 purpose will continue to animate the life within 
 those walls and the graduates of the future, as 
 those of the past, will consecrate the ripe and beau- 
 tiful fruits of their training to the service of others. 
 
 105 
 
How can man or woman of wealth better 
 honor the Master whom they love, and Mary 
 Lyon, his faithful servant, than by speeding the 
 work so nobly begun? How can those of moder- 
 ate resources deny themselves the privilege, of 
 smaller gifts, to a training school, which so nobly 
 represents the ideals upon which our country is 
 dependent for its safety. 
 
 106 
 

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